Athlete Health
Athlete Health and Relative Energy Deficiency Syndrome (REDS)
Athlete health encompasses a range of factors that can impact performance and overall well-being in both male and female athletes. Key areas of concern include multiple hormonal abnormalities, stress fractures, and recovery plus performance issues. Addressing these aspects is crucial for maintaining optimal health and performance.
Low Reproductive Hormones in Athletes
Low reproductive hormones impacts both male and female athletes and can result from intense training and inadequate nutrition. This is part of the condition termed “Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport” or REDS and in females is often associated with loss of menstrual periods.
Other hormonal abnormalities include decreased thyroid hormones, decreased effect of growth hormone and IGF-1 and increased cortisol.
These hormonal abnormalities, combined with inadequate energy availability increase the risk of stress fractures, osteoporosis, soft tissue injuries, impaired immune function, poor performance and recovery plus other adverse effects.
Symptoms and Effects
- Irregular or Absent Menstrual Cycles: Low energy availability and high training load can lead to irregular or absent periods. This causes low oestrogen and multiple associated effects. Losing periods is not normal because someone is an athlete and requires medical review.
- Decreased Libido and erectile function: Male athletes are less commonly diagnosed with REDS because they don’t have the clear sign of absent periods that female athletes have. Male athletes need to be aware of more subtle signs and monitor for REDS.
- Bone Health Issues: REDS and associated hormonal changes increase the risk of both bone stress injuries and osteoporosis.
- Fatigue and Weakness: Drop in performance, poor recovery from training and decreased motivation are all common symptoms of REDS.
Stress Fractures in Athletes
Stress fractures are small cracks in the bone caused by repetitive stress or overuse. They are common in athletes who engage in high-impact sports or suddenly increase their training intensity or volume. Low reproductive hormones increase risk of stress fractures by 2-6 times.
Dr Smith's Blog Posts on Athlete Health
Click to read more:
- Recovery After a Marathon: Tips and Advice
- Iron deficiency in athletes
- Women runners are twice as likely as Men runners to experience a stress fracture
- Contraception and Athletic Performance – Balancing Benefits and Impacts
- Cortisol and High-Intensity Exercise
- Why am I so tired all the time?
- Athletic Performance Through Menstrual Cycle Phases
- Blood Glucose Levels and Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) for people without diabetes
- The Importance of Vitamin D for Athletes: Boosting Health and Performance
- 11 Tips for avoiding stress fractures
- Can I Track and Train to My Cycle if I’m on the Pill?
- Iron Infusions and hypophosphataemia (low phosphate)
- Keto diet and Bone Health in Athletes
- Why Are Women Twice as Likely to Suffer from Stress Fractures
- PODCAST – HRT Dispelling Misinformation
- PODCAST – Why you should get you iron checked
- PODCAST – FEMMI Menstrual cycle and Training in Athletes
- PODCAST – FEMMI Contraceptive pill impacts on female athletes
- PODCAST – Hormonal function+ Stress fracture + Bone Health