Bone Mineral Density and Menstrual Irregularities. A Comparative Study on Cortical and Trabecular Bone Structures in Runners with Alleged Normal Eating Behavior

• Published in: International journal of sports medicine 1998-02, Vol.19 (2), p.92-97
• Main Authors: Tomten, S. E., Falch, ]. A., Birkeland, K. I., Hemmersbach, P., Høstmark, A. T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adipose Tissue - anatomy & histology; Adult; Amenorrhea - etiology; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers - blood; Body Height; Body Mass Index; Body Weight; Bone and Bones - pathology; Bone Density; Bones of Upper Extremity - pathology; Case-Control Studies; Estradiol - blood; Feeding Behavior - physiology; Female; Female genital diseases; Femur Neck - pathology; Fibula - pathology; Follicle Stimulating Hormone - blood; Fractures, Stress - etiology; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Humans; Hydrocortisone - blood; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I - analysis; Lumbar Vertebrae - pathology; Luteinizing Hormone - blood; Medical sciences; Menstruation Disturbances - complications; Menstruation Disturbances - pathology; Non tumoral diseases; Oligomenorrhea - etiology; Osteocalcin - blood; Peptide Fragments - blood; Physiology and Biochemistry; Procollagen - blood; Running - physiology; Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin - analysis; Space life sciences; Testosterone - blood; Thyrotropin - blood; Thyroxine - blood; Tibia - pathology
• ISSN: 0172-4622; 1439-3964
• DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-971888

Bone mineral density (BMD), and associated biochemical and endocrine markers were compared in a group of runners with menstrual dysfunction (IR, n=13), and a group of performance matched eumenorrheic runners (R, n=15). All subjects claimed to have normal eating habits. Body height and weight, body mass index, and amount of body fat were similar. The IR group consisted of 5 presently oligomenorrheic (O) and 8 presently amenorrheic (A) runners. The BMD values of the athletes were additionally compared with corresponding values in a reference group (C) of healthy age matched controls (n=54). BMD values were significantly lower in IR compared with R on all measuring sites: Total body (-9%, p=0.03), femoral neck (-11%, p=0.01), lumbar spine (-12%, p=0.001), lower leg (-6.5%, p=0.03) and arms (-7%, p=0.01). In addition, IR athletes had lower total body (-5%, p=0.01), and lumbar spine BMD (-10%, p=0.001) than C. No differences were observed in serum IGF-1, SHBG, testosterone and cortisol, or in the biochemical marker of bone formation (osteocalcin) and bone resorption (1 CTP). Values of serum E2, FSH and LH were low in IR and normal in R. TSH was in the normal range in both groups, but f-T4 was significantly lower in IR than in R. The athletes were furthermore grouped according to past and present menstrual dysfunction severity. At all measuring sites, with the exception of the lower leg, increasing menstrual dysfunction severity was linearly associated with declining BMD values (p