Tag: Dance

Hormones, Health and Human Potential

25 November 2022

“Hormones, Health and Human Potential” explains how hormones play a crucial role in determining health. Hormone networks provide the feedback mechanism by which our lifestyle and behaviours enable us to reach our personal potential.

Introduction


Over 2,000 years ago Hippocrates advocated that the “safest way to health” was through “the right amount of nourishment and exercise” for “every individual”. As it turns out Hippocrates was way ahead of his time in articulating the principles of personalised and preventative medicine.

Hormones as the missing link to health


Although Hippocrates understood that lifestyle and behaviours are key to health, he did not know why. We now know that hormones are the key players in this vital role. Hormones are instigators in bringing our DNA to life by determining gene expression. Hormones direct the production of proteins, in the optimal amounts and at the right time. Hormones work as networks to maintain mental and physical health.

Lifestyle factors influencing health through hormones networks


Complex internal negative feedback loops between hormones and the biological variables that they regulate, enable homeostasis for good physiological function. Challenges to homeostasis, due to our interactions with the environment are detected by the hypothalamus, which manages hormone network response. In this way there is another layer of feedback loops between lifestyle behaviours and hormones.

Well-balance lifestyle behaviours, in terms of quantity and timing, support healthy hormone network function, leading us to the “safest way to health”. Conversely, circadian misalignment, where lifestyle choices conflict between internal biochronometers, can lead to hormone dysregulation found in conditions such as metabolic syndrome.

Harnessing hormones as preventative and supportive medicine


A good balance of lifestyle factors can harness hormones as a form of supportive and preventative medicine. This is particularly relevant for type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome. For women, where there are physiological changes in hormones, such as occurs at menopause, attendant symptoms and impacts on long term health can be mitigated by lifestyle as part of the management of menopause. For example, exercise has been shown to have a beneficial effect on temperature regulation, metabolism, body composition, bone health and reducing the risk of breast cancer.

Athlete performance mediated by hormones


Hormones mediate the positive adaptive changes due to exercise training. Understanding these mechanisms can benefit both athletes and patients .

Imbalances in behaviours causing hormone dysregulation


Too little exercise and excess nutrition can lead to hormone dysregulation, seen in metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus. On the other hand, too much of a “good thing” can also cause health and performance issues in exercisers. Relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) can occur in exercisers of all ages and levels, where there is either an unintentional or intentional mismatch between energy intake and energy demand. Consequent low energy availability causes hormone network disruption, which in the long-term results in adverse effects on both health and performance .

Conclusions


• Hormone network function plays an important role in mental and physical health
• Hormones are influenced by our lifestyle behaviours of exercise, nutrition and sleep
• The benefits of lifestyle behaviours are derived from the positive adaptive changes driven by hormones
• Imbalances in lifestyle behaviours can cause hormone disruption leading to adverse effects on health and exercise performance

References

Keay N. Health Hormones and Human Potential. Sequoia books. 2022

McCarthy O, Pitt J, Keay N et al Passing on the exercise baton: What can endocrine patients learn from elite athletes? Clinical Endocrinology 2022 96;(6):781-792

Keay N, Francis G Infographic. Energy availability: concept, control and consequences in relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) British Journal of Sports Medicine 2019;53:1310-1311.

Energy Availability in Dancers

7 December 2020

Here I discuss the findings from our recent study: Indicators and correlates of low energy availability in male and female dancers [1]. Thanks to my co authors and all the dancers who made this important study possible. I personally paid for open access to the entire paper so you and the whole dance community can read the full details.

Dance v Sport

Dance and Sport…plus ça change

There are many similarities between dancers and athletes, in terms of the physical and mental demands of training and performance. In both disciplines, training starts from a young age to hone technical skills. Dance, in particular, shares many of the challenges of aesthetic sports. In some ballets, the visual appearance of the corps de ballet is essential to the story line. In La Bayadere, the warrior sees in a dream multiple images of his true love, the dead temple dancer. In Swan Lake the corps de ballet moves like a flock of birds and in Les Sylphides the corps de ballet portrays ethereal spirits.

Furthermore, in dance and certain sports low body weight is perceived to confer a performance advantage. This is not just for aesthetics, but also to meet the technical dance demands of elevation and pointe work, where the whole of a dancer’s body weight goes through the first metatarsal joint (big toe joint). Indeed, the spotlight was on dancers in some of the early studies on the potential incidence and consequences of low energy availability [2]. However, since initial studies in dancers, the focus has been on athletes involved in sport, culminating in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) consensus statement published in 2014 on relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S). As the name RED-S indicates, sport is the focus of this clinical syndrome describing the clinical consequences of low energy availability on health and performance [3].

What’s new in dance?

Whilst there are clearly parallels with dance and sport, there are equally some fundamental differences from cultural and organisational perspectives. Furthermore, the demands of dance have changed dramatically over just two generations. The illustration shows my grandmother from 1920s, with loose fitting costume, en pointe on two feet with a “romantic” interpretation, who was invited to join the legendary Dame Ninette De Valois and her company. This contrasts to her granddaughter (me!) at about the same age from 1980s, wearing a tight fitting, shorter length tutu, en pointe on one leg and portraying a different style of ballet.

1920s my grandmother v 1980s granddaughter (me!)

Relative Energy Deficiency in Dance
To explore the current situation of low energy availability in the dance community against the backdrop of these changes in demands, we conducted a study of dancers worldwide to assess indicators and correlates of low energy availability. Building on the sport specific energy availability questionnaire [4], we developed a dance specific version to ensure engagement with dancers [1].

The key findings from this survey of 247 dancers found that 57% of female dancers and 27% of male dancers were at risk of RED-S. Psychological factors are recognised to play a part in both the cause and consequences of RED-S. From our study of dancers a significant cluster of psychological interrelationships was found. Dancers who rated control of eating as important, also did so for control of body weight as well as expressing anxiety about missing training. In order to be a successful dancer, self-discipline and self-motivation are undoubtedly important. However, in contrast to dancers from previous generations the pervasive pressure from social media is ever increasing, alongside perceived dance specific demands of being of a certain weight to gain leading roles.

Strikingly, significant relationships were found between these psychological factors and physical and physiological indicators of low energy availability, including low body weight and menstrual dysfunction.

That is not to say that dancing is an inherently an “unhealthy” pursuit. Far from it: dance has been shown to have beneficial effects on both physical and mental wellbeing, both from a participant and an audience point of view. Dance goes beyond the dimension of physical performance, calling upon musicality, expression and acting. This is why an important message from this study is to raise awareness about misperceptions about body weight, in order to support optimal dance performance. Rather, anxiety about body weight can have negative consequences on physical and mental health, and ultimately impair dance performance. Raising awareness about low energy availability and relative energy deficiency in dance and sport was the rationale for writing the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine open access, educational website [5]

The other important message from this study is that early identification of aspiring male and female dancers at risk of developing the clinical consequences of relative energy deficiency in dance could be possible with a dance specific questionnaire used in this study. As with participation in sport, early identification is crucial as a proactive, preventative measure. In other words, keeping in step with the increasing demands of dance in a changing world, rather than relying on reactive measures to deal with the ensuing mental and physical injuries of relative energy deficiency in dance.

The pandemic has impacted everyone. This includes professional dancers and athletes. Whilst the return of professional athletes to some competition has been facilitated, theatres where dancers perform remain shut. These are unprecedented, challenging times for dancers. On the other hand, this does offer the opportunity to plan for ways to ensure future generations of healthy dancers with sustainable careers.

References

1 Keay N, Overseas A, Francis G. Indicators and correlates of low energy availability in male and female dancers BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine 2020;6:e000906. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2020-000906

2 Keay N, Fogelman I, Blake G Bone mineral density in professional female dancers. British Journal of Sports Medicine 1997;31:143-147

3 Keay N, Francis G Infographic. Energy availability: concept, control and consequences in relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) British Journal of Sports Medicine 2019;53:1310-1311.

4 Keay N, Francis G, Hind K Low energy availability assessed by a sport-specific questionnaire and clinical interview indicative of bone health, endocrine profile and cycling performance in competitive male cyclists BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine 2018;4

5 www.health4performance.co.uk BASEM educational website

Raising Awareness of RED-S in Male and Female Athletes and Dancers

11 October 2018

Health4Performance is a recently developed BASEM open access educational resource

This is a world premier: a resource developed for and by athletes/dancers, coaches/teachers, parents/friends and healthcare professionals to raise awareness of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S)

What?

Optimal health is required to attain full athletic potential. Low energy availability (LEA) can compromise health and therefore impair athletic performance as described in the RED-S clinical model.

Dietary energy intake needs to be sufficient to cover the energy demands of both exercise training and fundamental physiological function required to maintain health. Once the energy demands for training have been covered, the energy left for baseline “housekeeping” physiological function is referred to as energy availability (EA). EA is expressed relative to fat free mass (FFM) in KCal/Kg FFM.  The exact value of EA to maintain health will vary between genders and individuals, roughly equivalent to resting metabolic rate of the individual athlete/dancer. LEA for an athlete or dancer will result in the body going into “energy saving mode” which has knock on effects for many interrelated body systems, including readjustment to lower the resting metabolic rate in the longer term. So although loss in body weight may be an initial sign, body weight can be steady in chronic LEA due to physiological energy conservation adaptations. Homeostasis through internal biological feedback loops in action.

The most obvious clinical sign of this state of LEA in women is cessation of menstruation (amenorrhea). LEA as a cause of amenorrhoea is an example of functional hypothalamic amenorrhoea (FHA). In other words, amenorrhoea arising as a result of an imbalance in training load and nutrition, rather than an underlying medical condition per se, which should be excluded before arriving at a diagnosis of FHA. All women of reproductive age, however much exercise is being undertaken, should have regular menstrual cycles, which is indicative of healthy hormones. This explains why LEA was first described as the underlying aetiology of the female athlete triad, as women in LEA display an obvious clinical sign of menstrual disruption. The female athlete triad is a clinical spectrum describing varying degrees of menstrual dysfunction, disordered nutrition and bone mineral density. However it became apparent that the clinical outcomes of LEA are not limited to females, nor female reproductive function and bone health in female exercisers. Hence the evolution of the clinical model of RED-S to describe the consequences of LEA on a broader range of body systems and including male athletes.

A situation of LEA in athletes and dancers can arise unintentionally or intentionally. In the diagram below the central column shows that an athlete where energy intake is sufficient to cover the demands from training and to cover basic physiological function. However in the column on the left, although training load has remained constant, nutritional intake has been reduced. This reduction of energy intake could be an intentional strategy to reduce body weight or change body composition in weight sensitive sports and dance.  On the other hand in the column on the right, training load and hence energy demand to cover this has increased, but has not been matched by an increase in dietary intake. In both these situations, whether unintentional or intentional, the net results is LEA, insufficient to maintain health. This situation of LEA will also ultimately impact on athletic performance as optimal health is necessary to realise full athletic potential.

Slide1

Although LEA is the underlying aetiology of RED-S, there are many methodological and financial issues measuring LEA accurately in “free living athletes“. In any case, the physiological response varies between individuals and depends on the magnitude, duration and timing of LEA. Therefore it is more informative to measure the functional responses of an individual to LEA, rather than the value calculated for EA. As such, Endocrine markers provide objective and quantifiable measures of physiological responses to EA. These markers also reflect the temporal dimension of LEA; whether acute or chronic. In short, as hormones exert network effects, Endocrine markers reflect the response of multiple systems in an individual to LEA. So by measuring these key markers, alongside taking a sport specific medical history, provides the information to build a detailed picture of EA for the individual, with dimensions of time and magnitude of LEA. This information empowers the athlete/dancer to modify the 3 key factors under their control of training load, nutrition and recovery to optimise their health and athletic performance.

Slide1

Why?

Who is at risk of developing RED-S? Any athlete involved in sports or dance where being light weight confers a performance or aesthetic advantage. This is not restricted to elite athletes and dancers. Indeed the aspiring amateur or exerciser could be more at risk, without the benefit of a support team present at professional level. Young athletes are at particular risk during an already high energy demand state of growth and development. Therefore early identification of athletes and dancers at risk of LEA is key to prevention of development of the health and performance consequences outlined in the RED-S clinical model. Although there is a questionnaire available for screening for female athletes at risk of LEA, more research is emerging for effective and practical methods which are sport specific and include male athletes.

How?

Early medical input is important as RED-S is diagnosis of exclusion. In other words medical conditions per se need to be ruled out before arriving at a diagnosis of RED-S.  Prompt medical review is often dependent on other healthcare professionals, fellow athletes/dancers, coaches/teachers and parents/friends all being aware and therefore alert to RED-S. With this in mind, the Health4Performance website has areas for all of those potentially involved,  with tailored comments on What to look out for? What to do? Ultimately a team approach and collaboration between all these groups is important. Not only in identification of those at risk of LEA, but in an integrated support network for the athlete/dancer to return to optimal health and performance.

References

Heath4Performance BASEM Educational Resource

Video introduction to Health4Performance website

2018 UPDATE: Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) BJSM 2018

What is Dance Medicine? BJSM 2018

Identification and management of RED-S Podcast 2018

Low energy availability assessed by a sport-specific questionnaire and clinical interview indicative of bone health, endocrine profile and cycling performance in competitive male cyclists Keay, Francis, Hind. BJM Open Sport and Exercise Medicine 2018

How to Identify Male Cyclists at Risk of RED-S? 2018

Pitfalls of Conducting and Interpreting Estimates of Energy Availability in Free-Living Athletes IJSNM 2018

Low Energy Availability Is Difficult to Assess but Outcomes Have Large Impact on Bone Injury Rates in Elite Distance Athletes IJSNM 2017

The LEAF questionnaire: a screening tool for the identification of female athletes at risk for the female athlete triad BJSM 2013

IOC consensus statement on relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S): 2018 update BJSM 2018

What is Dance Medicine?

22 July 2018

Traditionally dance medicine has been somewhat the poor relation of sports medicine. Why is this the case? There is no doubt that dancers, of whatever genre, require the physical and psychological attributes of athletes. However, dance involves an additional artistic component where ultimately performance on stage is judged not according to a score card as in aesthetic sports, rather on the ability of the dancers to forge an emotional connection with the audience.

As with athletes, injuries are always an important topic for dancers: how to recognise the aetiology of injuries and thus develop prevention strategies. Dance UK have published two reports on national enquiries into the health of dancers. Dance UK has now evolved into the organisation One Dance which includes the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science (NIDMS). One Dance provides delivery of the Healthier Dancer Programme (HDP) whose talks regularly engage 1500+ dancers and dance professionals per year and which will be a part of the One Dance UK conference at the end of November, an overarching event for the entire dance sector. One Dance holds a list of healthcare professionals with experience and expertise in dance. One Dance is an especially an important resource for independent dancers who will not have access to the provision for those working in larger dance companies.

However, beyond injury management, there are important aspects of the health of dancers which need to be considered, highlighted in an information booklet “Your body, Your risk” from Dance UK. The female athlete triad is well established as a clinical spectrum comprising of disordered eating, menstrual dysfunction and impaired bone health. Indeed impaired bone mineral density many persist even after retirement in female dancers. The recent evolution of the female athlete triad into relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-S) provides an important clinical model. RED-S includes male athletes/dancers, involves multiple body systems and crucially, evidence of detrimental effects on athletic performance is being researched and described. In other words RED-S is not restricted to female dancers/athletes with bone stress injuries.

BalletDials
Integrated periodisation of training, nutrition and recovery support perforamnce

The fundamental cause of RED-S is low energy availability where nutritional intake is insufficient to cover energy requirements for training and resting metabolic rate. In this situation the body goes into energy saving mode, which includes shut down of many hypothalamic-pituitary axes and hence endocrine network dysfunction. As hormones are crucial to backing up adaptations to exercise training, dysfunction will therefore have an effect not just on health, but on athletic performance. In dance, neuromuscular skills and proprioception are key for performance. Hence, of concern is that these skills are adversely impacted in functional hypothalamic amenorrhoea, which together with impaired bone health from RED-S, greatly increases injury risk.

Low energy availability can arise in dance and sport where low body weight confers an aesthetic and/or performance advantage. There is no doubt that being light body weight facilitates pointe work in female dancers and ease of elevation in male dancers. Thus, low energy availability can occur intentionally in an effort to achieve and maintain low body weight. Low energy availability can also be unintentional as a result of increased expenditure from training, rehearsal and performance demands and the practicality of fuelling. This situation is of particular concern for young dancers in training, as this represents a high energy demand state, not just for full time training, additionally in terms of energy demands for growth and development, including attainment of peak bone mass.

Despite the significance of RED-S in terms of negative consequences on health and performance, as outlined by the IOC in the recent consensus update, further work is required in terms of raising awareness, identification and prevention. Fortunately these issues are being addressed with the development of an online educational resource on RED-S for athletes/dancers, their coaches/teachers/parents and healthcare professionals which is backed by British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine (BASEM) and with input from One Dance and NIDMS. In terms of research to facilitate the proliferation of evidence base in dance medicine, One Dance lists calls for research, whilst NHS NIDMS clinics provide access to clinical dance medicine. The importance of the application of this growing field of dance medicine and science for the health and performance of dancers was recently outlined in an article “Raising the barre: how science is saving ballet dancers“.

On the international stage, the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (IADMS) strives to promote an international network of communication between dance and medicine. To this end, IADMS will hold its 28th Annual Conference in Helsinki, Finland from October 25-28, 2018. In addition to extensive discussion of dance injuries, there will be presentations on “Sleep and Performance” and “Dance Endocrinology”.

So maybe Dance Medicine and Science is not so much the poor relation of Sports Medicine, rather showing the way in terms of integrating input between dancers, teachers and healthcare professionals to optimise the health of dancers and so enable dancers to perform their full potential.

References

Presentations

Fit to Dance? Report of National inquiry into dancers’ health.

Fit to Dance 2 Dance UK

One Dance

Your body your risk. Dance UK

Fit but fragile. National Osteoporosis Society

Bone mineral density in professional female dancers N. Keay, BJSM

2018 UPDATE: Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) Dr N Keay BJSM 2018

Reduced Neuromuscular Performance in Amenorrheic Elite Endurance Athletes Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise 2017

Dancing through Adolescence Dr N Keay BJSM

Healthy Hormones Dr N Keay BASEM 2018

Dancers, Periods and Osteoporosis, Keay N, Dancers, Periods and Osteoporosis, Dancing Times, September 1995, 1187-1189

A study of Dancers, Periods and Osteoporosis, Keay N, Dance Gazette, Issue 3, 1996, 47

Raising the barre: how science is saving ballet dancers The Guardian 2018

International Association for Dance Medicine and Science Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise

 

 

Health, Hormones and Human Performance Part 2

8 April 2018

Endocrine and Metabolic aspects of Sports and Exercise Medicine are crucial determinants of health and human performance, from reluctant exerciser through to elite athlete and professional dancer. This is what the recent BASEM spring conference set out to demonstrate. The previous blog described functional disruption of Endocrine networks caused by non-integrated periodisation of the three key lifestyle factors of exercise/training, nutrition and recovery/sleep, can lead to adverse effects on health and athletic performance.

Slide1
Integrated periodisation of exercise, nutrition, recovery for optimisation of health and performance (Keay BJSM 2017)

Grace, aesthetic line and ethereal quality belie the athletic prowess required in ballet. What are the Endocrine, metabolic and bone health consequences for this unique group of athletes? Dr Roger Wolman (Medical Advisor to National Institute for Dance Medicine and Science) returned to the important topic of insufficient energy availability in sport/dance where being lightweight confers a performance advantage, resulting in dysfunction in multiple endocrine axes. Dr Wolman discussed his recent research studies in dancers revealing an intriguing synergistic action between oestrogen and vitamin D, which is itself a steroid hormone. Evidence was presented to demonstrate how being replete in vitamin D has beneficial effects on bone, immunity and muscle function. Thus it is key in preventing injury and supporting health in athletes, with particular relevance in premenarchal and postmenopausal women, who are in relative oestrogen deficient states. This presentation will certainly change my clinical practice and, I am sure, that of many in the audience, in ensuring that athletes/patients are vitamin D replete. This may have to be achieved in the form of strategic use of sports informed vitamin D supplementation, given that even walking naked for 5 hours a day outside during UK winter, would not stimulate enough vitamin D production. Therefore, to the relief of many in the audience, Dr Wolman did not recommend this strategy.

Dr Kate Ackerman (member of RED-S IOC working group) explained why we should all tap into our inner endocrinologist. Sport and Exercise Medicine (SEM) goes far beyond diagnosing and treating injury. Is there any underlying endocrine cause for suboptimal health, performance or injury? Be this an endocrine diagnosis that should not be missed, or a functional endocrine dysfunction due to relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-S). Dr Ackerman explained the importance of the multidisciplinary team in both identifying and supporting an athlete experiencing the consequences of RED-S. New research from Dr Ackerman’s group was presented indicating the effects of RED-S on both health and athletic performance.

Females now have combative roles alongside their male counterparts. What are the implications of this type of intensive exercise training? Dr Julie Greaves (Research Director of the ministerial women in ground close combat research programme) presented insightful research revealing that differences in the geometry of bone in men and women can predispose towards bone stress injury and account for increased incidence in this type of injury in female recruits.

Lunchtime discussion and debate was focused on the determinants of athletic gender, lead by Dr Joanna Harper and Professor Yannis Pitsiladis (International Federation of Sports Medicine). Rather than relying on genetic sex, testosterone concentration was proposed as the criteria for determining whether an athlete competes in male or female events. That testosterone concentration is linked to performance was demonstrated in a study published last year in the BMJ where female athletes in the upper tertile of testosterone were shown to have a performance advantage in certain strength based track and field disciplines. This could potentially be an objective, functional metric used to determine sporting categories for transgender and intersex athletes. The only current uncertainty is how previously high levels of testosterone seen in male, or intersex athletes would have already had an impact on physiology, if this athlete then wished to compete as female and therefore lower testosterone levels with medication.

Nutrition is a key component in optimising health and performance through the Endocrine system. Dr Sophie Killer (English Institute of Sport) explained practical implications for athletes. In a study stimulating a training camp, there were distinct differences between athletes on different regimes of carbohydrate intake in terms of endocrine markers and psychological effects. Those athletes on restricted carbohydrate intake fared worse.

Insulin insensitivity is the underlying pathological process in developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and metabolic syndrome. What is the crucial lifestyle intervention to combat this? Dr Richard Bracken (Swansea University) presented the science behind why and how exercise improves blood glucose control and therefore ultimately risk of developing the macro and microvascular complications of diabetes. T2DM is an increasing health issue in the population, which has to be addressed beyond reaching for the prescription pad for medication. Dr Bracken outlined some effective strategies to encourage the reluctant exerciser to become more active. Having worked myself in NHS diabetic clinics over many years, this was a key presentation at the conference to demonstrate that SEM goes far beyond a relatively small group of elite athletes. Highlighting the crucial role of physical activity in supporting health and performance through optimisation of endocrine networks: uniting the elite athlete and the reluctant exerciser.

One road to Rome
One Road to Rome (BJSM Keay 2017)

Motivate2Move initiative aims to shift the emphasis from treating disease, to preventing disease. Dr Brian Johnson presented the excellent resource for healthcare professionals to encourage, motivate and educate patients in order to consider exercise as an effective and enjoyable way to improve health.

Hormones play a key role in health and human performance, applicable to all levels of exerciser from reluctant exerciser to elite athlete.

FactorsWordCloud4

References

Health, Hormones and Human Performance BASEM Spring Conference

Video of presentation on Endocrine and Metabolic aspects of Sport and Exercise Medicine from BASEM Spring Conference

Sports Endocrinology – what does it have to do with performance? Keay BJSM 2017

Lifestyle Choices for optimising health: exercise, nutrition, sleep Keay BJSM 2017

One road to Rome: Exercise Keay, BJSM 2017

 

 

Healthy Hormones

8 April 2018

Is your training in tune with your hormones and nutrition to optimise your athletic performance?

Hormones are internal chemical messengers regulating all aspects of your health and athletic performance. Discussed at recent BASEM conference “Health Hormones and Human Performance”

webmd_rm_photo_of_porous_bones
Bone health can be at risk if hormone status not optimal

How? To enable your hormones to do the best job they can for your health and sport performance, you need to find a balance between what, how much and when you train, eat and sleep. In the diagram below, this represents staying on the healthy green plateau. Too much, or too little of any of these choices can lead to imbalances and tipping off the green plateau into the red, less healthy peripheries.

Slide1
Integrated periodisation of training, nutrition and recovery for optimal health and performance (Keay, BJSM 2017)

What? Imbalances between training load, nutrition and recovery can cause problems in the Endocrine system: the whole network of hormone interactions throughout your body. The bottom line is that if insufficient energy is provided through nutrition to cover both your training demands and the “housekeeping” activities within the body to keep you alive, then your body goes into energy saving mode. This situation is called relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-S) and has the potential to adversely impact one or more of the important systems in your body vital for optimal health and performance.

RED-S has evolved from the female athlete triad described in 1980s by Barbara Drinkwater in NEJM, where although female runners were consuming same dietary intake, those with higher training load were more likely to have menstrual dysfunction and low bone mineral density. Since this original description it has become obvious that the reproductive axis is just one of several hormone networks to be impacted by low energy availability and that RED-S also impacts the other half of the population: men.

red-s
Potential Multisystem effects of RED-S (IOC statement BJSM 2014)

Why? Suboptimal levels of energy availability to support health and performance can arise unintentionally, for example with increased training loads and/or times of growth and development in young athletes. Intentionally restrictive eating patterns can also be the cause of RED-S, particularly in sports/dance where low body weight confers a performance or aesthetic advantage. It is an indisputable fact that in order cycle up a mountain you need to overcome gravity and produce high watts/kg. Equally it is pretty impossible to do pointe work, let alone 32 fouttées en tournant en pointe unless you are a lightweight dancer. However if this at the expense of disrupting your hormones, then the advantage of being low body weight will be lost.

How to know? How to know if you, a teammate or a fellow athlete is at risk of RED-S? If you are a female athlete then your hormones are in balance if you are having regular periods (this does not include withdrawal bleeds as result of being on the oral contraceptive pill). Any woman of reproductive age from 16 years to the menopause should have regular periods (unless pregnant). Regular menstruation acts as the barometer of healthy hormones in women. If this is not the case, whether you are an athlete or not, you need to get this checked out medically to exclude underlying medical conditions. Having excluded these, then you need to review the integrated periodisation of training, nutrition and recovery. In male athletes there is not such an obvious sign that your hormones are at healthy levels. However recurrent injury/illness/fatigue can be warning signs. The diagram below shows all the potential adverse effects of RED-S on performance. Be aware that you do not have to have all, or indeed be aware of any of these effects if you develop RED-S.

Screen Shot 2017-05-20 at 19.16.28
Potential Performance effects of RED-S (IOC statement BJSM 2014)

So What? If you are an athlete/dancer, you may be thinking that none of this applies to you. You are feeling and performing fine. Maybe you have not yet experienced any of the detrimental effects of RED-S. However, you will never know how good an athlete you could be and whether you truly are performing to your full potential unless you put yourself in the best position in terms of your hormones to achieve this goal.

performance-potential
Suboptimal performance as result of RED-S (Keay, BJSM 2017)

Key Points

• Insufficient nutrition intake (quantity and quality), whether intentional or not, results in RED-S and multiple hormonal disruptions

• RED-S has detrimental health and athletic performance consequences in both the short and the long term

• Some consequences of RED-S are irreversible for example poor bone health, unless intervention is swift

Check points

• Are you suffering with frequent injuries/fatigue/illness over last 3 months or more?

• Female athletes: if 16 years or older have your periods not started? Have you missed more than 3 consecutive periods?

If yes to any of above, seek medical advice from someone with experience Sports Endocrinology. Now! The longer you leave the situation the harder it will be to rectify. Initially underlying Endocrine conditions per se have to be ruled out. RED-S is a functional dysfunction of the Endocrine system, so a diagnosis of exclusion. Having established RED-S as the diagnosis, monitoring Endocrine markers can be very helpful as these are examples of objective metrics in monitoring energy availability and therefore response to optimising integrated periodisation of nutrition, training and recovery.

Slide1
Integrated periodisation of key training factors support healthy hormones to drive improvements in performance

What to do? Don’t ignore! Although you may think you are fine, if your hormones are not working for you, then you will never reach your full potential as an athlete/dancer. For female athletes having regular periods means your hormones are in healthy ranges and this is normal. Not starting and/or missing periods is not healthy, for any woman.

For both male and female athletes, if you are experiencing recurrent injury, fatigue or illness, you need to get this checked out. There may be a simple explanation such as viral infection, low vitamin D or iron. However it may be that the underlying reason is due to hormone issues.

If you are an athlete, coach, teacher or parent and concerned that you/an athlete in your care has not got the balance right to optimise health and athletic performance, then a 3 way discussion will help and support the decision to seek medical advice as appropriate.

References

Lifestyle Choices for optimising health: exercise, nutrition, sleep Keay, BJSM 2017

Optimal health: including female athletes! Part 1 BJSM 2017

Optimal health: including male athletes! Part 2 BJSM 2017

Optimal Health: Especially Young Athletes! Part 3 BASEM 2017

Optimal Health: For All Athletes! Part 4 BASEM 2017

Low Energy Availability is Difficult to Assess But Outcomes Have Large Impact on Bone Injury Rates in Elite Distance Athletes Sport Nutrition and exercise Metabolism 2017

Cumulative Endocrine Dysfunction in Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) BJSM 2018

Presentation at BASEM conference “Health, Hormones and Human Performance”

 

Conferences in Sport/Dance, Exercise Science and Medicine 2018

12 December 2017

Conferences for the New Year:

BAsem2018_SpringConf_BJSM

If you are interested in any aspects of Sport/Dance, Exercise and Lifestyle Medicine here are some suggestions:

British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine Spring Conference 22 March 2018 “Health, Hormones and Human Performance” Covering the Endocrine and Metabolic aspects of Sport, Dance, Exercise Science and Medicine. From the elite athlete to the reluctant exerciser. Aimed at all those members of the multidisciplinary team working with athletes/dancers, plus athletes/dancers and their coaches/teachers.

CPD points awarded from Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine FSEM

BASES British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences CPD awarded

British Journal of Sports Medicine Quality International Education Approved

CPD points from Royal College of Physicians

CPD from REP-S

 

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Why? The balance and timing of exercise, nutrition and recovery is key to optimising health and all aspects of human performance. Intricate network interactions between the Endocrine system and metabolic signalling pathways drive these positive adaptations. However, non-integration of these lifestyle factors can disrupt signalling feedback pathways and predispose to maladaptation and potentially disease states.

What? Discussion, led by experienced clinicians and researchers will cover:

· Key role of Sports Endocrinology in health and performance

· Effects of exercise modalities on body composition and bone health

· Machine learning in interpreting biochemical & metabolomic patterns

· Endocrine & metabolic markers in assessing health & training status

· Gut metabolism in supporting health and performance

· Exercise as crucial lifestyle factor in pre-existing metabolic dysfunction

Who? This conference is relevant to all members of multidisciplinary teams supporting both reluctant exercisers and elite athletes. Medics, researchers, physiologists, physiotherapists, nutritionists, psychologists, coaches, athletes. All welcome.

Health, Hormones and Human Performance will be a conference of interest to all those involved with aspiring and elite athletes, including dancers (National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science NIDMS) and those supporting reluctant exercisers through Lifestyle Medicine.

Latest news from BASEM. Interview with BASEM Today Issue 41 – Winter 2017

 

Wales Exercise Medicine Symposium by Cardiff Sports & Exercise Medicine Society 27/1/18. This includes Dr Peter Brukner, founder of the Olympic Sports Medicine Park in Melbourne, and an afternoon session discussing the female athlete through the lifespan. CPD points applied for from the Royal College of Physicians, the Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine, REPs and the Royal College Of General Practitioners.

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Women in Sport and Exercise Conference 2018  13-14 June Organised by The Women in Sport and Exercise Academic Network and attracting British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) CPD points.

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Medically young, older athletes

10 April 2017

Spot the differences?

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You don’t have to be a Radiologist to see that there are some differences between the two X-rays above. Both are from adults of the same age 51 years. Female on left as you look at screen and male on right. In both cases, these adults would be described as “medically young”. Always physically active and reasonably accomplished as athletes in their respective sport disciplines. Never smoked, never overweight, good nutrition.

As discussed at the recent conference at the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) on “Sports Injuries and Sports Orthopaedics” in the session on the “Ageing Athlete”, there are challenges for athletes in Masters’ age groups, including mechanical joint issues associated with increasing age.

Looking at the male X-ray on right there is small gap between femoral head (ball-like structure) and acetabulum (socket in which femoral head lies). This gap is where the articular cartilage reduces friction between articulating surfaces of this ball and socket joint. In contrast in female X-ray on left of screen, this gap is reduced as cartilage has been worn away so that on right hip (left as you look at screen) bone is grinding on bone. Ouch!

Look again at the femoral heads (ball like structures). In the male these have smooth contours and are symmetrical on both sides. In contrast, in the female there is marked asymmetry with squashed appearance on right side (left of screen) of the femoral head with honeycomb appearance suggesting that there is cyst formation and impaction into socket of joint. This results in shorter leg and weakness of the bone architecture so more likely to compress further. Strangely the blood supply to femoral head is retrograde, meaning it flows backwards from origin of supplying blood vessel to provide vital nutrients to bone, which is a living tissue. If this blood supply is disrupted then the bone dies (avascular necrosis) and become more fragile. The femoral neck (slim area below femoral head) where blood supply courses, has been telescoped down and looks stubby compared to opposite side in female.

Although in the female, the right hip aches and is stiff, it is actually the left hip (right as you look at screen) that hurts more, both at rest and when trying to exercise. Why? If you look carefully on the upper boarder of acetabulum (socket) you will see small cysts. I imagine that pain is caused when the synovial fluid (lubricating fluid) in joint is forced into exposed bone, in hydraulic action especially when moving the hip joint.

So what to do? Total hip replacement (THR) is the only feasible option for the female above, due to extensive damage to the hip joints. Why are some people more prone to this type of joint damage? Apart from underlying medical pathologies that damage joints, the nature of some types of exercise can contribute. For example Ballet is demanding on the hip joint in terms of range of movement and load bearing. The individual can also be predisposed in biomechanical terms to joint issues: in the female X-ray above the femoral head is more exposed than the male.

Although the perception is that THR is more for the elderly wishing to be able to walk to the shops, with improvements in materials and technology used in hip protheses, there are examples of young athletes successfully returning to previous pre-operative levels of exercise training without pain. Recently a 28 year old male soloist dancer of the Paris Opera Ballet had a THR and returned to professional dancing. The medically young athlete will probably have the required motivation and physical ability to rehab effectively. A house in the south of France with private pool and climate for rehab outside would certainly add to motivation. Nevertheless, return to dancing at a professional level in a top level Ballet company after THR is remarkable as classical dance requires a unique combination of outstanding strength, control, proprioception and flexibility. At the conference at the RSM, during the lecture on “Can I run after my hip replacement?” hip replacements in the medically young, active population were reported to have good success rate with athletes able to return to previous level of sport with predicted lifespan of replacement of up to 25 years. Of course every individual athlete should weigh up the pros and cons. Taking up a new impact sport would probably not be sensible. Delaying surgery too long, apart from increasing pain, can compromise biomechanics and therefore replacement outcome. On the other hand, any operation carries a risk, however small and THR requires extensive rehabilitation in order to return to sport.

Deciding on the timing of THR in medically young, older athlete is not straight forward, especially if considering your own hips. Ultimately in such a person, the decision to go for surgery is based on quality of life and limitation to current sport activity, combined with the desire to return to previous level of activity, without the pain. What would you do?

For further discussion on Endocrine and Metabolic aspects of SEM come to the BASEM annual conference 22/3/18: Health, Hormones and Human Performance

References

Successful Ageing Dr N. Keay, British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine 2017

Conference: Sports Injuries and Sports Orthopaedics, Royal Society of Medicine, 18/1/17, Session “The Ageing athlete”. Including lectures on: “Can I run after my hip replacement? Current recommendations for impact exercise following joint replacement” Mr Konan and “Managing acute injuries in worn joints” Mr Oussedik

 

 

 

Optimal health: especially young athletes! Part 3 Consequences of Relative Energy Deficiency in sports

13 January 2017

In my previous blogs I have described the adverse effects of Relative Energy Deficiency in sports (RED-S) in both female and male athletes both in terms of current health and sport performance and potential long term health problems. What about young aspiring athletes? There is concern that early sport specialisation, imbalances in training not covering the full range of the components of fitness, together with reduced sleep, all combine to increase injury risk. Young athletes are particularly vulnerable to developing RED-S during a period of growth and development accompanied by a high training load.

Sufficient energy availability and diet quality, including micronutrients, is especially important in young athletes. To investigate further I undertook a three year longitudinal study involving 87 pre- and post-pubertal girls, spread across control pupils at day school together with students in vocational training in both musical theatre and ballet streams. There was a gradation in hours of physical exercise training per week ranging from controls with least, followed by musical theatre, through to ballet stream with the most.

In all girls dietary, training and menstrual history were recorded and collected every six months. At the same visit anthropometric measurements were performed by an experienced Paediatric nurse and bloods were taken for Endocrine markers of bone metabolism and leptin. Annual DEXA scans measured body composition, total body bone mineral density (BMD) and BMD at lumbar spine (including volumetric) and BMD at femoral neck.

The key findings included a correlation between hours of training and the age of menarche and subsequent frequency of periods. In turn, any menstrual dysfunction was associated with low age-matched (Z score) BMD at the lumbar spine. There were significant differences between groups for age-matched (Z score) of BMD at lumbar spine, with musical theatre students having the highest and ballet students the lowest. There were no significant differences in dietary intake between the three groups of students, yet the energy expenditure from training would be very different. In other words, if there is balance between energy availability and energy expenditure from training, resulting in concurrent normal menstrual function, then such a level of exercise has a beneficial effect on BMD accrual in young athletes, as demonstrated in musical theatre students. Conversely if there is a mismatch between energy intake and output due to high training volume, this leads to menstrual dysfunction, which in turn adversely impacts BMD accrual, as shown in the ballet students.

I was fortunate to have two sets of identical twins in my study. One girl in each twin pair in the ballet stream at vocational school had a twin at a non-dance school. So in each twin set, there would be identical genetic programming for age of menarche and accumulation of peak bone mass (PBM). However the environmental influence of training had the dominant effect, as shown by a much later age of menarche and decreased final BMD at the lumbar spine in the ballet dancing girl in each identical twin pair.

After stratification for months either side of menarche, the peak rate of change for BMD at the lumbar spine was found to be just before menarche, declining rapidly to no change by 60 months post menarche. These findings suggest that optimal PBM and hence optimal adult BMD would not be attained if menarche is delayed due to environmental factors such as low energy density diet. If young athletes such as these go on to enter professional companies, or become professional athletes then optimal, age-matched BMD may never be attained as continued low energy density diet and menstrual dysfunction associated with RED-S may persist. Associated low levels of vital hormones such as insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and sex steroids impair bone microarchitecture and mineralisation. Thus increasing risk of injury such as stress fracture and other long term health problems. The crucial importance of attaining peak potential during childhood and puberty was described at a recent conference at the Royal Society of Medicine based on life course studies. For example, delay in puberty results in 20% reduction of bone mass.

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It is concerning that RED-S continues to occur in young athletes, with potential current and long term adverse consequences for health. Young people should certainly be encouraged to exercise but with guidance to avoid any potential pitfalls where at all possible. In my next blog I will delve into the Endocrine mechanisms involved in RED-S: the aetiology and the outcomes.

For further discussion on Endocrine and Metabolic aspects of SEM come to the BASEM annual conference 22/3/18: Health, Hormones and Human Performance

References

Optimal Health: including female athletes! Part 1 Bones Dr N. Keay, British Journal of Sport Medicine

Optimal health: including male athletes! Part 2 Relative Energy Deficiency in sports Dr N. Keay, British Journal of Sport Medicine 4/4/17

Keay N. The modifiable factors affecting bone mineral accumulation in girls: the paradoxical effect of exercise on bone. Nutrition Bulletin 2000, vol 25, no 3. 219-222.

Keay N The effects of exercise training on bone mineral accumulation in adolescent girls. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. Vol 15, suppl 1 2000.

Keay N, Frost M, Blake G, Patel R, Fogelman I. Study of the factors influencing the accumulation of bone mineral density in girls. Osteoporosis International. 2000 vol 11, suppl 1. S31.

New S, Samuel A, Lowe S, Keay N. Nutrient intake and bone health in ballet dancers and healthy age matched controls: preliminary findings from a longitudinal study on peak bone mass development in adolescent females, Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 1998

Keay N, Dancing through adolescence. Editorial, British Journal of Sports Medicine, vol 32 no 3 196-7, September 1998.

Bone health and fractures in children. National Osteoporosis Society

Lifetime influences on musculoskeletal ageing and body composition. Lecture by Professor Diana Kuh, Director of MRC Unit for Lifelong Healthy Ageing, at Royal Society of Medicine, conference on Sports Injuries and sports orthopaedics. 17/1/17

Relative Energy Deficiency in sport (REDs) Lecture by Professor Jorum Sundgot-Borgen, IOC working group on female athlete triad and IOC working group on body composition, health and performance. BAEM Spring Conference 2015.

Health and fitness in young people

Optimal health: including female athletes! Part 1 Bones

6 January 2017

webmd_rm_photo_of_porous_bonesIt is hard to dispute that women are underrepresented in medical research and certainly there are not many studies that include female athletes. Does this matter? After all whatever your gender the same physiological and metabolic processes occur. However the Endocrine system is where there are distinct differences in sex steroid production, which in turn have different responses in multiple target cells.

Although studies on changes in exercise performance in response to various dietary interventions and training regimes are often very interesting and well described, I am left feeling slightly uneasy when the subjects are all males. The cause for my concern is that the female hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian axis is a particularly sensitive system with complex feedback loops and interacting networks.

Menstrual disturbance is not unusual amongst women in sport/dance where low body weight is an advantage. When a ballet dancer performs pointe work, putting full body weight through the big toe is hard enough, without extra load! Some women might consider it a convenience to be spared the hassle of menstruation. At age 24, I was perfectly fine never having had a period (primary amenorrhoea), or so I thought, being no more tired than other hospital medical colleagues working full time, studying for postgraduate medical exams and also involved in exercise training.

While working as a SHO at Northwick Park Hospital, I volunteered to be included in a study at the British Olympic Medical Association. The study was of female lightweight rowers and ballet dancers to look at VO2 max, percentage body fat and bone mineral density (BMD). I had been doing Ballet intensively (and obsessively) from a very young age, together with restricted fat and carbohydrate intake. Sounds a familiar scenario? Although I looked perfectly healthy (and I did not fit into a clinical condition requiring treatment), worked and danced well, my bone density was worryingly low. So if you are a female doing weight-bearing exercise or resistance training which loads the skeleton, these activities promoting osteogenesis will be negated if you are not ovulating and producing adequate oestrogens. The female athlete triad composed of disordered eating, amenorrhoea and low BMD was originally described by Drinkwater in 1984. However, once pathological states causing amenorrhoea have been excluded, in medical terms the female athlete triad did not necessarily constitute a disease state requiring intervention, rather subset of the “normal population”.

How significant is having low BMD compared to the age-matched population during your 20s? Could this even be viewed as a reversible adaptation to training, reflected in site specific differences in BMD according to sport? After all, when female athletes retire with decreased training “stress” and more “relaxed” diet, menses often resume and therefore does BMD also improve? This was the question I sought to answer in my study on 57 premenopausal retired professional dancers. Even with return of menses, if these athletes had experienced previous amenorrhoea of more than 6 month duration, then bone loss was irrecoverable. Current low BMD was also correlated to lowest body weight (independent of amenorrhoea) during dance career and later age of menarche. There did not appear to be any protective effect of being on the oral contraceptive pill. Constructing a model of BMD using multiple regression 33.6% of total variation in z (age matched) score for BMD at lumbar spine was accounted for by duration of amenorrhea, age at menarche and lowest body weight during dance career. So “athletic” hypothalamic amenorrhea rather than being a reversible, adaptive response has long term, irreversible effects on BMD.

Apart from bone metabolism, what other systems are impacted by mismatch of energy intake and expenditure in overtly healthy athletes? Are the endocrine and metabolic systems in male athletes also affected by subtle imbalances in training energy expenditure and dietary intake? What about young athletes? In my next blog I will explore the rationale behind the original female athlete triad now being described as part of Relative Energy Deficiency in sports (RED-S). The implications for current health and sports performance, as well as long term health in both adult men and women and young athletes.

For further discussion on Endocrine and Metabolic aspects of SEM come to the BASEM annual conference 22/3/18: Health, Hormones and Human Performance

References

Keay N, Fogelman I, Blake G. Bone mineral density in professional female dancers. British Journal of Sports Medicine, vol 31 no2, 143-7, June 1997.

Keay N. Bone mineral density in professional female dancers. IOC World Congress on Sports Sciences. October 1997.

Keay N, Bone Mineral Density in Professional Female Dancers, Journal of Endocrinology, November 1996, volume 151, supplement p5.

Keay N, Bone Mineral Density in Female Dancers, abstract Clinical Science, Volume 91, no1, July 1996, 20p.

Keay N, Dancers, Periods and Osteoporosis, Dancing Times, September 1995, 1187-1189

Keay N, A study of Dancers, Periods and Osteoporosis, Dance Gazette, Issue 3, 1996, 47

Fit to Dance? Report of National inquiry into dancers’ health

Fit but fragile. National Osteoporosis Society

Your body your risk. Dance UK

From population based norms to personalised medicine: Health, Fitness, Sports Performance British Journal of Sport Medicine 22/2/17

Optimal Health: Including Male Athletes! Part 2 – REDs Dr N. Keay, British Association Sport and Exercise Medicine

Optimal health: especially young athletes! Part 3 Consequences of Relative Energy Deficiency in sports Dr N. Keay, British Association Sport and Exercise Medicine

Optimal health: for all athletes! Part 4 Mechanisms Dr N. Keay, British Association Sport and Exercise Medicine