Contraceptives good for athletes

Aug 23, 2005

Oral contraceptives (OC) may have more advantages especially for female athletes with or without amenorrhea (abnormal condition where menstruation is absent or suppressed).

Oral contraceptives (OC) may have more advantages especially for female athletes with or without amenorrhea (abnormal condition where menstruation is absent or suppressed).
According to the results of a study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, OC has predominantly beneficial effects on body composition of athletes without adverse effects on physical performance and could be used for the prevention of bone diseases.
Menstrual disturbances are common among female athletes, and oral contraceptives are often recommended as estrogen substitution.
“Because there is great concern that OCs might impair physical performance, a group of scientists from Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden studied the effects of OCs on female athletes.
In this study, 26 long distance runners were examined before and after 10 months of using a low-dose combined OC.
The athletes had significant changes in body composition.
Weight and fat mass increased and ovarian androgens decreased.
Mean body weight increased mainly because of an increase in both upper and lower body fat, but there was no change in lean body mass.
OC treatment also increased bone mineral density.
Despite these significant changes in body composition, the investigators did not detect significant adverse effects on physical performance.
However, the authors write, it cannot be excluded that a marked increase in fat mass might have unfavourable effects for athletic performance in individual women.”
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