Osteoporosis

7 Pages 1789 Words

Introduction
The event that changed the face of women’s athletics was the signing of Title IX in 1972. Title IX required that all schools receiving federal funding provide equal opportunities for men and women. With the increased participation in women sports, female athletes have developed a unique set of medical and orthopedic problems, the most concerning in which is the female athlete triad. The triad is composed of disordered eating, amenorrhea (cessation of menstrual cycle), and osteoporosis. Researcher Mike Bykowski explains the triad by saying:
“The triad generally starts with the disordered eating. Poor nutrition with intense training results in an ‘energy deficit’ that can cause the body to shut down the production of estrogen from the ovary, triggering amenorrhea. This lack of estrogen, combined with a lack of calcium and vitamin D in the diet, can result in a loss of bone density. Osteoporosis and increased fracture risk may follow” (Bykowski, 1999).
Like each level of the female athlete triad, osteoporosis presents its own prevalence, causes, medical problems, signs and symptoms, prevention and treatment.
According to Kieposki, “osteoporosis is the condition of premature loss of bone or inadequate bone formation, which results in low bone mass, increased skeletal fragility, microarchitectural deterioration of bone, and increased susceptibility to stress fractures” (Kieposki, 2002). The decreased bone mass may be from one of two causes. Bone may have inadequately acquired during adolescence, or a woman may have had normal bone mineral content but lost it prematurely.

Prevalence
The actual prevalence of osteoporosis among female athletes is unknown because of the secretive nature of the disordered eating component and underreporting by the female athletes. Often referred to as the silent disease, osteoporosis is the part of the triad that goes undiagnosed unless frequent stress fractures begin to occur...