Review, 2020
Can not eating enough or overexercising stop your period?
Yes. Between 16% and 47% of lean female athletes have disordered eating. Low energy, excessive exercise, and stress can stop periods, but periods usually return when these causes are addressed.
What they did
Reviewed scientific literature on how low weight, excessive exercise, and high stress cause menstrual irregularities.
What they found
Between 16% and 47% of lean female athletes have disordered eating. Low energy availability, excessive exercise, and stress disrupt hormone regulation, causing low estrogen and amenorrhea. Low estrogen leads to bone loss, tissue atrophy, infertility, and pain during intercourse. Weight gain and addressing eating disorders or stress restore menstruation.
What it means for you
If your periods have stopped, consider whether eating, exercise, or stress might be responsible. Gaining weight and recovering from eating disorders are the best treatments. In resistant cases, hormone therapy with transdermal estrogen and progesterone may be needed. This is a review of existing research.
16-47%
Lean female athletes with disordered eating
About the study
- Original title
- Menses Requires Energy: A Review of How Disordered Eating, Excessive Exercise, and High Stress Lead to Menstrual Irregularities
- Authors
- Huhmann K
- Journal
- Clinical therapeutics
- Year
- 2020
- Study design
- Review
- What was tested
- Weight gain and lifestyle modification; hormone replacement in resistant cases
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.clinthera.2020.01.016
Topics
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