The female athlete triad

Lebrun, Connie

doi:10.1383/wohm.2006.3.3.119

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Volume 3, Issue 3 , Pages 119-123, 1 May 2006

The female athlete triad

Connie Lebrun MD CCFP MPE Dip Sports Med is Director of Primary Care Sport Medicine at the Fowler-Kennedy Sport Medicine Clinic at The University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. She is associated with the departments of Family Medicine, Surgery (Orthopedics) and Kinesiology at the University. She received her medical degree from McGill University in 1981 and completed a clinical fellowship in Sport Medicine from the University of British Columbia as well as a Masters in Exercise Physiology. Her research is centred on the female athlete, dealing with issues and concerns for the recreational to elite female athlete. She was a team physician for the Canadian Olympic Team in the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Sydney, Athens and for the Winter Olympics in Torino.

Abstract

Regular exercise brings health benefits, but for some young women it can also bring disordered eating, amenorrhea and osteoporosis. The ‘female athlete triad’ consists of three separate, but interrelated medical entities: (i) disordered eating; (ii) amenorrhea (or absence of menses), and; (iii) premature osteoporosis (altered bone mineral density). Although coaches, athletes, parents, and to some extent team physicians, have been aware of these problems for some time, it is only relatively recently that concerns about short- and long-term health consequences have been voiced in the medical literature. Prevention of the Triad disorders starts with awareness and sensitivity to the pertinent issues. We now know that concerns about weight and dieting emerge in children between the ages of 9 to 11. Athletes and coaches must be thoroughly educated on nutrition and training principles, the development and maintenance of normal menstrual cycles, and the prevention of osteoporosis. By evaluating the female athlete triad, amenorrhea, medical complications, signs and symptoms, key signs at physical examination, and the management and prevention of the triad disorders, this article offers an important review of the female athlete triad.

Keywords: female athlete triad , amenorrhea , eating disorder , premature osteoporosis

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