EXTREME training can lead to eating disorders, broken bones and infertility
in female athletes.
High levels of exercise lower levels of oestrogen in the body,
which can lead to reduced bone mass. This increases the risk of stress
fractures, and of osteoporosis later in life. The women often stop menstruating,
too.
Besides the intensive exercise regime, female athletes are
under pressure to keep their weight down. As a result, many don鈥檛 eat as much as
they need to balance the energy used during training, putting them at risk of
eating disorders.
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Exactly how training triggers these effects isn鈥檛 known. Michelle Warren at
Columbia University in New York believes the punishing regime and strict diet
are to blame. She thinks leptin, an appetite-regulating hormone made in fat
cells, may be involved. Leptin levels fall dramatically in starving people, and
low levels appear to interrupt menstruation.