REVERSAL OF EXERCISE-ASSOCIATED MENSTRUAL DISTURBANCE : PART 1

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The goal of this experiment is to determine whether the magnitude of an energy surplus is directly related to the stimulation of the reproductive axis in women with athletic amenorrhea. The results of this study will be useful for providing practical guidelines for the reversal of amenorrhea in women who exercise strenuously but do not take in sufficient calories. The proposed experiment is not designed to document a complete recovery of menses, i.e. by providing extra calories until ovulation and subsequent menses occurs. This experiment will examine the short-term response of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis in order to design future experiments that will employ treatments of longer duration.