Faktore wat die prestasie en gesondheid van vroue-atlete kan beinvloed

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Although it is common knowledge that regular exercise has many beneficial effects on thehuman body, it is also true that many highly competitive athletes neglect their health for thesake of performance. With this as a general objective for the study, women athletes of theMatie Athletics Club were recruited as subjects and were monitored and tested for severalhealth-related parameters.Current results indicate that, although the average total cholesterol (TC) concentrations of thegroup were within normal ranges, quite a number of the sprint and field athletes had TCvalues regarded as a cardiovascular risk (> 5.2 mmol.l). Serum testosterone levels of thesprint and field athletes were also higher than those of the distance athletes, but a correlationbetween TC and testosterone was not established. In general, cholesterol intake of womenathletes was within the recommended daily allowance (RDA) prescriptions. The high-densitylipoprotein fraction was also within the norm, but a better chemical pathological range hadbeen expected. All haematological parameters were within the normal ranges of distribution,but the red blood cell count, haemoglobin concentration and hematocrit were on averagelower than the standard average for females. Athletes, quite often, have higher plasmavolumes than average and this can disguise normal haematological values and is described assport anaemia. The current study has also indicated an iron deficiency (83% RDA) in the dietof female athletes in general. Thus the relatively low observed red blood cell count could notnecessarily be attributed to sport anaemia. The energy intake was also poor and did notcomply with the energy needs of the athletes. Bone mineral density (BMD) and plasmaelectrolytes were normal. Distance athletes had a higher BMD of the hip compared to thelumbar spine area. This is probably related to the stress to the hip associated with running. Acorrelation was observed between TC and BMD of the hip of eumenorrheal and amenorrhealathletes, which had not been observed before.The influence of the phase of the menstrual cycle on the immune system is controversial, andthe results of the thesis confirm those of other studies that indicated no influence. In addition,it has been shown that the exogenous ingestion of glutamine, before the onset of exercise, canincrease the plasma concentration thereof, and that the formerly observed decline (also seen in the current study) after intense exercise can be totally neutralized. This had not beenreported before. The physiological significance of this has not been established, but theassumption is that a continuous adequate supply of glutamine will benefit the immune cellswith regard to its reaction to pathogens. As reported by others, it has been shown that theingestion of 5% glucose during long duration exercise eases the stress on the immune system,as both leucocytes and cortisol levels were attenuated compared to intake of a placebo. Anew discovery, however, was that the ad libitum ingestion of glucose was not enough toproduce desired significant results. The importance of this finding may have practicalimplications with regard to desirable amounts of glucose supplementation during races.In conclusion: Female athletes of club performance level are on general in a healthycondition, but are not excluded from the risk with regard to cholesterol. The screening of TCalone is insufficient with regard to competitive athletes, unless the sub-fractions are screenedas well during routine medical examinations. Adjustments with regard to the energy and ironcontent of the diet are suggested. Supplementation of glutamine and glucose before andduring exercise could be beneficial to the immune system. More studies with regard to theassociation of cholesterol with BMD are recommended.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University