The female athletes Flashcards
REDS: reduced energy deficit in sport
- energy availability
- amenorrhea
- bone loss
Female athlete triad
- disordered eating
- amenorrhea
- osteoporosis
Amenorrhea
absence of menstruation
Osteoporosis
brittle and fragile bones from lack of tissue
Disordered eating
a variety of abnormal eating behaviours that, by themselves, do not warrant diagnosis
- replaced with energy imbalance
The problem is particularly prevalent in sports that require subjective judging and endurance sports that require low body mass
- e.g. gymnastics, diving
- restrict energy intake: energy deficit (periods stop due to reproduction)
Fat
- endocrine organ
- produces estrogen
Energy balance
- if disbalanced - estrogen production will fall and periods will stop
estrogen
- key hormone in reproductive cycle
- critical in maintaining bone density
Energy Availabilty
- primary cause of menstrual irregularities
- if falls below 30% menstruation will cease, must remain above 30kcal.kg-1.FFM-1.day-1
- if increases caloric intake by 10-20% then normal menses denerally return
Bone loss
- cannot be recovered
- must keep bone density high at young age to avoid osteoporosis
There has been the ‘critical fat’ or ‘set point’ hypothesis (suggested in 1974) that proposed a fall in body fat below 17% resulted in the ceasing of menstruation. - true or false
false
Menstrual disturbances
- most recognisable symptom
- long term restriction leads to endocrine disturbances - disruption to the hypothlamic pituitary axis and oestrogen release is reduced
- low oestrogen levels reduce bone formation - bone becomes more sensitive to parathyroid hormone which promotes loss of calcium
- by increasing energy intake period can come back
Anorexia Atheleica
- Excessive fear of becoming obese
- Restriction of caloric intake
- Weight loss (of at least 5%)
- No medical disorder to explain leanness
- May be associated with menstrual dysfunction
- May use binge eating and purging
