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Female Athlete Triad

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The female athlete triad (Triad) is a disorder affecting young women athletes, this condition is usually comprised of three factors; energy availability, menstrual health and bone mineral density (Brown, Wengreen, & Beals, 2014; Melin et al., 2015). The term energy availability refers to the leftover dietary energy available for normal bodily functions like tissue repair and maintenance after energy has been expended for exercise, and a low energy availability can be attributed to insufficient energy intake or excessive exercise, or a combination of the two (Thein-Nissenbaum, Rauh, Carr, Loud, & McGuine, 2012). The Triad is most often found among young female athletes, and is associated with both a high drive for thinness reflected in a …show more content…
Changes in bone mineral density may manifest as osteoporosis, which is a severe decrease in bone tissue with bones becoming brittle and frail, osteopenia which is a reduction in bone mineralization mass, or stress fractures (Thein-Nissenbaum et al., 2012). A decrease in energy availability caused by an extended energy deficient diet has effects on the menstrual cycle of female athletes. This disruption of the menstrual cycle often leads to imbalances in hormones such as leptin, estradiol and cortisol, these hormonal imbalances can cause a disruption in bone turnover, decreasing the body’s ability to replace bone that is resorbed by the body, as well as decreasing the body’s ability to repair micro fractures (Barrack et al., 2014). In addition to this, bone loss that occurs during adolescence may be irreversible, and could lead to further bone mineralization problems later in life (Brown et al., 2014). Weight bearing exercise causes micro-fissures in bone if the strain on the bone surpasses the appropriate threshold. Healthy people with adequate nutrition and recovery time are able to repair these fissures and cracks; however, if these are not repaired, they can accumulate and lead to the formation of bone stress injuries (Barrack et al., 2014). Deficiencies in nutritional quality and quantity have been linked to an increased susceptibility to bone fractures, especially when the deficiencies are in micronutrients required for bone maintenance, such as calcium, vitamin D, vitamin K, vitamin C, magnesium and iron (Barrack et al., 2014). Muscle tissue has been shown to absorb stress from exercising, so it makes sense that those athletes who may have lower lean muscle mass, such as those with a low BMI, have been

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