- THE CAUSES OF DELAYED MENARCHE IN FEMALE ATHLETES -
INTRODUCTION
Greater emphases on the benefits of exercise have led to a greater participation of women in sport at all levels. Exercise has been promoted, endorsed and encouraged in the medical community as a way to reduce stress and maintain a healthy lifestyle. While moderate exercise does provide valuable benefits, intensive exercise associated with elite female athletes poses serious health risks to the female body.
The female reproductive system is very intricate and highly sensitive to physiological stress. This increased stress level is often associated with several reproductive abnormalities such as delayed menarche, primary and secondary amenorrhea and oligomenorrhea occurring in 6–79% of women engaged in athletic activity (Warren and Perlroth 2001). This wide range of percentages is a result of various levels of athletic discipline and level of competition (Abraham et al. 1982, Glass et al. 1987).
The aforementioned reproductive abnormalities are largely the result of hypothalamic dysfunction and disturbance of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) pulse generator. This suppression of GnRH results in possible infertility and an irreversible decrease in bone density. The scientific community seems to be split however, on the specific trigger that causes the reproductive dysfunction in athletes. There are two theories, which are widely accepted, the body composition theory and the energy drain theory.
The body composition theory states that intensive athletic training activates the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, which disrupts GnRH pulsatility and hence menstrual function. It is theorized that this suppression of the menstrual cycle may be a physiological adaptation to low caloric intake (Warren 1980). There is much evidence that suggests that the hormone leptin may help regulate reproductive function. Leptin levels have been found to change with respect to fat stores and energy availability. So, it can be reasoned that a low caloric intake will result in low levels of leptin. A study of females showed that had there is a certain threshold level of leptin that when gone below will result in no menstrual cycle (Kopp et al. 1997). Leptin receptors have also been located on hypothalamic control of the GnRH pulse generator thus leptin may be a critical factor involved in signaling low energy availability to the reproductive axis (Warren and Perlroth 2001). This shows us that the body can adapt to low energy levels by halting reproductive function and using the resulting energy for other metabolic activities.
The second view is the energy drain theory, which accounts for the loss of reproductive function in all athletic disciplines instead of just the “lean” sports.
Turn on ESPN, and there are many female sports reporters, and many reports on female athletes. Flip through Sports Illustrated, and female athletes are dotted throughout the magazine. Female athletes star in the commercials. Female athletes are on the cover of newspapers. Millions of books have been sold about hundreds of female athletes. However, this has not always been the case. The number of females playing sports nowadays compared to even twenty years ago is staggering, and the number just keeps rising. All the women athletes of today have people and events from past generations that inspired them, like Babe Didrikson Zaharias, the All-American Professional Girls Baseball League, Billie Jean King, and the 1999 United States Women’s World
Health Disparities and Racism is an ongoing problem that is reflected among society. Health is when an individual is physically, mentally and social well being is complete. However health disparities seems to be a social injustice within various ethnicities. Health disparities range from age, race, income, education and many other things. Even though we realize health disparities are more noticeable depending on the region of country where they live in. Racism is one of the most popular factors, for why it’s known that people struggle with health.
Taylor, W.N. Hormonal Manipulation: A New Era of Monstrous Athletes. 1985, McFarland and Company Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina, and London.
According to the Sports Medicine and Arthroscopy Review’s article on the female athlete triad, in the past forty years, American women have become increasingly involved in athletics as a result of laws allowing them to participate in sports. (Lebrun and Rumball) For instance, Cathy Rigby won eight Olympic gold medals in gymnastics during the ‘60’s and 70’s when these laws were just coming into effect. (Brunet) Nevertheless, there is an ugly hidden underbelly to the many benefits of women’s increased participation in sports. Many sports have very high standards for body image, which has led to the increasing prevalence of three “separate… but interrelated conditions” collectively known as the female athlete triad. (Lebrun and Rumball) Despite Cathy Rigby’s aforementioned success, an article by Dr. Michael Brunet reveals that she was severely affected by the most well-known of the female athlete triad: the eating disorder. This eventually caused her to suffer cardiac arrest twice. (Brunet) These effects are not limited to elite athletes, however; high school athletes are also affected by the triad, particularly those participating in sports “in which leanness is perceived to optimize performance” or which use “specific weight categories.” (Lebrun) The three components of the triad, osteoporosis, amenorrhea, and disordered eating, are increasingly becoming an unfortunate effect of distorted body image on sports.
“The past three decades have witnessed a steady growth in women's sports programs in America along with a remarkable increase in the number of women athletes (Daniel Frankl 2)” From an early age women were thought to be “Lady Like”; they are told not to get all sweaty and dirty. Over 200 years since Maud Watson stepped on the tennis courts of Wimbledon (Sports Media Digest 3); women now compete in all types and levels of sports from softball to National racing. Soccer fans saw Mia Hamm become the face of women’s soccer around the world, Venus and Serena Williams are two of the most popular figures in tennis, and Indy car racing had their first woman racer, Danika Patrick. With all the fame generated by these women in their respective sports, they still don’t receive the same compensation as the men in their respective sports fields.
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Crime Fiction is a genre which deals with elements of criminal activity and the investigators who solve the crime. This genre engages the audience by allowing them to solve the puzzle and put the clues together to find a criminal. The story ‘Upon the flesh’ by John Franklin is about a murder that occurred in an alleyway. It is told through the point of view of the private investigator, this is how we see the crime being solved. Another short story that would fit into this genre would be ‘fresh bait’ written by Sherryl Clark. This story tells us about a hitchhiker trying to investigate into a crime committed some time ago. He/she is nervous and doesn’t know how to approach each question without seeming like he/she is an undercover
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