This is another excerpt from The Women’s Book, looking a bit at the cause of menstrual cycle dysfunction and, specifically, secondary amenorrhea. Even more specifically it looks at the cause of that dysfunction as it occurs in exercising women. Early theories revolved around body fat percentage although it would turn out that energy availability (EA) played a much larger role.
Some Definitions
Since this is a short excerpt from a much longer chapter, I want to define a few terms so it will make sense.
When a woman is menstruating “normally” this is called eumenorrhea (“eu” = good). In contrast, the lack of a menstrual cycle is termed amenorrhea.
Primary amenorrhea is when the onset of menstruation (called menarche) is delayed. As frequently as not this occurs in females involved in sports such as gymnastics, ballet, ice skating and other sports that “emphasize thinness” (as the literature puts it). Their intense training and dieting simply delay the normal onset of menstruation.… Keep Reading