FEMALE ATHLETE TRIAD(OSTEOPOROSIS, AMENORRHOEA, EATING DISORDERS) Tablets Female athlete triad is a syndrome which is characterised by osteo...
FEMALE ATHLETE TRIAD(OSTEOPOROSIS, AMENORRHOEA, EATING DISORDERS)
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Female athlete triad is a syndrome which is characterised by osteoporosis (porous bones), amenorrhoea (absence of periods) and eating disorders (low energy availability).
The triad condition is usually seen in female athletes who emphasise on low body weight and a lean structure. Triad is a serious illness with life-long consequences. All the three conditions are interrelated in the triad and the presence of any one of three is most likely to cause the other syndromes.
Some common signs and symptoms of triad are: fatigue/tiredness, hair loss, dry skin, Stoppage of menses (amenorrhoea), low self-esteem (lack of confidence), weight etc.
OSTEOPOROSIS
Osteoporosis is a bone-related disorder. It is considered to be a ‘silent disease because it's symptoms occur very slowly. This disease is characterised by the decrease in density of bones and improper bone formation. This may result in fractures and other injuries.
Calcium plays an improper role in the formation of bone, Due to lack calcium, bones become fragile and porous.
Female athletes are more likely to have osteoporosis than male athletes The causes of Osteoporosis in females athletes are:
- Lack of estrogen due to amenorrhoea.
- Reduction in the level of estrogen due to menopause.
- Lack of calcium and vitamin D in the food.
Calcium plays a significant role in the formation of bones. Hormones, estrogen, . females and androgen, in males help in absorbing calcium. During menstruation after menopause, in females, there is a considerable decrease in the level of estrogen. This reduces the absorption of calcium in females resulting in weak bones. Eating disorders like bulimia nervosa and anorexia increase the chances of reduction of Calcium intake in female athletes. Less amount of vitamin D in the body also affects the of bones. Vitamin D also helps in absorbing calcium in the body. Thus, female athletes should take sufficient amount of calcium and vitamin D in their food.
"Women athletes that participate in sports like gymnastics, ballets, swimming any long distance running are at a higher risk of developing female athlete triad.
AMENORRHOEA
Unnatural absence of menses is called amenorrhoea. It is different from menopars, The two main symptoms of amenorrhoea are:
(i) Absence of menses for three months.
(ii) Irregular menses or excessive menses three or four times in a year. This is another symptom of female athlete triad.
The main causes of amenorrhoea are as follows:
1. Due to excessive exercise, the amount of fat reduces in the body. For a regula menstrual cycle, body must have sufficient amount of fat. By doing excessive exercise, the fat present in body gets converted into energy. This leads to bak of energy in body.
2. During exercise, the body produces hormones related to exercise. Due to the increased level of hormones the menses stop.
3. Eating disorder also affects the menstrual cycle. Dieting or fasting leads & deficiency of nutrients in the body. This stops the regular menstrual period.
4. Strong and negative emotions like stress, anxiety, anger, etc. play an important role in controlling the level of hormones in our body. Stress, anger, anxiety have negative effect on the level of hormones and this increases the chances of amenorrhoea.
Some of the problems associated with amenorrhoea are—reduction in fertility excess cholesterol in blood, reduction in bone-density, appearing overage, etc. However amenorrhoea in female athletes can be cured by dietary modifications and by doing low intensity exercises.
Anemia
Deficiency of iron in blood is called anaemia. Haemoglobin abbreviated as Hb is an iron containing protein found in red blood cells that carries oxygen in our body. It gives red colour to the blood. Due to lack of haemoglobin, the oxygen is not supplied to different parts of the body, anaemia is of different types but female athletes, particularly those engaged in endurance sports, are at a higher risk of suffering from iron-deficiency. This is because they lose iron through menstruation, sweating and other mechanisms during high intensity training. Due to deficiency of iron, the body fails to produce sufficient amount of haemoglobin.
Some common symptoms of anaemia are getting tired frequently, increased in heart rate especially during training or sports, giddiness, pale body, muscular cramps, etc.
Female athletes who try to reduce their body weight by reducing their food intake are also at a risk of suffering from anaemia. Female athletes should have iron-rich diet in adequate amount. They are advised to improve their diet and take iron supplements.
EATING DISORDERS
There are many disorders related to eating. Some of these disorders result from overeating and some due to undernourishment. The disorders caused due to overeating and overnutrition are obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems. On the other hand, undernutrition is due to insufficient eating may result in protein malnutrition and deficiency of vitamins that may cause stunted growth, anaemia, rickets, night blindness, etc. Apart from such eating disorders, there are some other disorders which are partly psychological. Such disorders are:
(a) Anorexia Nervosa
(b) Bulimia Nervosa
(a) Anorexia Nervosa
This is a psycho-physical condition. It is characterised by lack of appetite and is associated with the subconscious desire to remain slim. Such a feeling usually develops young women or adolescent males and females who are conscious about their physical appearance. As a result of this, they try to reduce even the normal body weight from the fear of becoming obese and spoiling their figure.
Anorexia is an eating disorder which is affecting the youth nowadays. It is a dangerous disorder for the health and well-being of people. _ Anorexia can lead to many problems in females such as bone loss, loss of skin integrity and may even cause menstruation to stop. It puts great stress on the heart and increases the risk of heart attacks and other heart-related problems.
Types of Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia can primarily be divided into two types, namely, restricting type of anorexia and Purging type of anorexia. They are described as follows:
Restricting type of Anorexia: In this type, individuals control their body weight by putting restrictions on their diet. They start reducing their body weight by severe fasting, dieting and excessive exercising, etc.
Purging type of Anorexia: In this type of anorexia, individuals lose their body weight by taking laxatives or diuretics or by forced vomiting after meals. By done this, individuals try to reduce their body weight.
Causes of Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia is an eating disorder that is caused by a combination of several psycholopia , Social and biological factors. Several other factors such as family environment, traits and low self-esteem may also lead to anorexia.
The factors causing anorexia are as follows:
1. Psychological factors: Individuals suffering from anorexia are obsessed with themselves fit. They are always conscious about their body. For this, they do ay even hesitate to use artificial means. Eating too little, excessive exercise, alway being conscious about their body weight and physical appearance are the mam causes of anorexia.
2. Social factors: Cultural and social constructs about being thin and beautiful put severe pressure on individuals and may cause anorexia. Specific social and cultural ideas related to health and beauty, promote weight loss and being thin as the ideal indicators of success and self-worth. Sometimes, parents and relatives may also become critical of their children’s physical appearance which may lead to anorexia.
3. Biological factors: Biological factors such as irregular hormonal functions and nutritional deficiencies may cause anorexia. Genetics also plays a significant role » causing anorexia. Parents suffering from anorexia are more prone to have children who, in turn, are likely to develop anorexia.
Symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa
1. Significantly underweight: The individual suffering from anorexia will not be able to maintain BMI and will lose weight significantly.
2. Anaemia: Anorexia may be one of the leading causes of anaemia. This lead ¥ tiredness in an individual.
3. Low pulse rate: The individuals suffering from anorexia will have low heart rate.
4. Low blood pressure: Anorexia may lead to low blood pressure.
5. Decrease in body temperature : Low body temperature is also one of the symptoms of anorexia. Due to low heart rate and low blood pressure, temperature of bod Not maintained properly.
6. Failure of menstruation or cessation of the same once established Irregular ot Amenorrhoea may be a symptom of anorexia.
7. Denial of illness: An individual suffering from anorexia is always m denial of his/her illness and considers himself/herself to be healthy.
8. Self-induced vomiting: An individual suffering from anorexia will induce vomit frequently, especially after a meal.
9. Excess eating at times: An individual suffering from anorexia will eat excessively and when he/she is unable to digest the food, he/she will induce vomit.
10. Laxative or diuretics abuse: An individual suffering from anorexia will use diuretics and drain out fluids from his/her body to remain slim. Such individuals also use laxatives or artificial sweeteners.
Prevention and Management of Anorexia Nervosa
The prevention and management of anorexia is very important. The basic preventive measures for anorexia are as follows:
1. People should be encouraged to inculcate a positive self-esteem and body image.
2 People should not be criticised for body sizes. Students should be advised not to be preoccupied with their weight.
3. Students should have knowledge of genetic factors that determine their body weight. They should be made to understand that being thin is not the most important means to be popular, beautiful or successful.
4. They should have a healthy approach towards their eating and exercising habits and should avoid the company of those people who are obsessed about their body weight.
It is necessary to provide timely treatment once anorexia has been detected in a person. Counsellors, doctors and dieticians help people suffering from anorexia to lead a healthy and positive lifestyle.
The following steps should be taken for the treatment and management of anorexia:
1. Recognising the problem: People suffering from anorexia often fail to accept the fact that they are actually suffering from this disorder. Therefore, it is important to Create awareness among these people about this disorder so that timely treatment Can be given.
2. Regaining the lost body weight: The first stage in the treatment of anorexia nervosa is to develop healthy eating habits and regaining normal body weight. Dieticians and counsellors help the people suffering from anorexia to understand the negative effects of not having proper food and the positive effects of eating healthy toad
3. Personal psychotherapy: The objective of this therapy is to improve the mental health of the people suffering from anorexia. Counsellors help such people to tet 80 of their prejudices related to beauty and weight by helping them regain their self esteem. They help them develop positive body image and encourage them to reject unnaturally set standards of beauty in the society.
Treatment: There is no specific medical treatment available for anorexia Nervosa, Medicines used to treat anxiety and depression are sometimes used to curb the symptoms of this disorder. However, such medication should be taken only Under, proper medical supervision.
(b) Bulimia Nervosa
This is also an eating disorder which affects adolescent girls and young women. k , characterised by a period of excessive eating (binge) alternating with normal eating fasting but without the extreme loss of weight as in anorexia nervosa.
Types of Bulimia Nervosa
There are two types of bulimia. They are described as follows:
1. Purging type: Purging type of bulimia occurs when an individual reduces his /he body weight by self-induced vomiting or by taking laxatives, diuretics or enemas In this, the individual aims to remove food from his body before it is digested » order to prevent any weight gain.
2. Non-purging type: Non-purging type of bulimia occurs when an individual uses severe fasting, rigid dieting or excessive exercising to reduce body weight. He she does not eat proper food and hence, does not get proper nutrition.
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Binge Eating Disorder
Binge eating means eating too fast without chewing the food property.
It is characterised by recurring binge eating at least once a week for over a period of 3 months, while experiencing a lack of control and guilt after overeating. The disorder can develop # individuals of a wide range of ages and socio-economic classes.
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Causes of Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia is not the result of a single or definitive cause. There are many factors that are related to bulimia. Some of these factors are described below:
1. Genetic factors: Genetic factors play a vital role in the development of bulimia. If one or both parents of an individual or siblings have bulimia, then he she is most likely to suffer from this disorder.
2. Psychological factors: Psychological factors also play an important role development of bulimia in individuals. If an individual has a problem of we esteem and is conscious about his/her body image, he/she may effect eating disorder. Other psychological factors such as an Obsessive drive for perfectionism, impulsive behaviour, depression, anxiety disorders, etc. may also cause bulimia.
3. To maintain weight categories in sports: Sportspersons taking part in sports like judo, wrestling, weightlifting which have different weight categories are more likely yo suffer from this eating disorder. This is because they want to lower their body weight and keep themselves in lower weight categories that may increase they chances of winning.
4. Pressure of performance in sports: Sportsmen participating in gymnastics, long distance races (marathons and racewalking), etc. generally suffer from this disorder. They believe that reduced body weight will enhance their performance in sports and increase their chances of success, thereby making them vomit the food that they eat. Mostly, coaches with limited knowledge also encourage sportsmen to maintain a low weight which causes bulimia.
5. Social factors: Social factors such as peer pressure and preconceived notions about body weight and being thin, play a significant role in causing bulimia. Sometimes the media also encourages the desire to be thin among the youth. Professionals like actors, dancers and models always wish to remain lean and slim, hence, they are more likely to be affected by this type of eating disorder.
Symptoms of Bulimia Nervosa
1. Frequent episodes of self-induced vomiting
2. Feeling of thirst
3, Swelling and inflammation in food pipe
4, Overeating or episodes of binge eating
5. Excessive physical activities to remain slim
6. Misuse of medical aids
7, Red coloured eyes due to broken blood vessels caused by vomiting jerks
8. Peptic ulcers
9. Erosion of dental enamel
10. Distorted body image
Prevention and Management of Bulimia Nervosa
There is no fixed cure for bulimia. However, this disorder may be prevented up to some extend by following the guidelines mentioned below:
1. Individuals should take a balanced diet and follow healthy eating habits,
2. proper regime of exercise should be followed regularly to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
3. Bulimia can also be prevented by having 4 positive self and body image and individual should not be over-critical of their body shape and sire and should focus on Maintaining a proper lifestyle.
Treatment
The treatment of bulimia also requires the services of doctors, and may cover a period of several months.
This disorder can also be prevented by following the given measures.
1. Psychotherapy: Cognition therapy is included in this type of method, positive reinforcement (sometimes negative reinforcement) control food habits. Person suffering from bulimia is asked to keep a her diet in which feelings and experiences of binge eating are also recorded.
2. Balanced diet: Regaining normal body weight should be the priority for such people. For this, the help of a dietician should be sought. A proper diet chart provided by the dietician should be followed to regulate and control the body weight.
3. Physical exercise: Individuals showing symptoms of bulimia should regularly take part in physical activities to control his/her body weight. To control the excess body weight one should follow a proper exercise regime.
4. Medical treatment: Treatment of bulimia is also done through medicines. However medication should be taken under proper medical guidance.
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