Effect of low dose oral contraceptives on exercise performance.

Bryner, Randy W.; Toffle, R C; Ullrich, Irma H.; Yeater, Rachel

doi:10.1136/bjsm.30.1.36

Cited by 57 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…And, finally, the duration of OC use may play a role. Longer than 1 mo of OC use appears to be necessary to induce physiological changes because a study examining 1-3 wk of monophasic OCs found no significant effect on V O 2 peak (2).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of oral contraceptives on peak exercise capacity

Casazza

Suh

Miller

et al. 2002

Journal of Applied Physiology

100

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.-We examined the effects of menstrual cycle phase and oral contraceptive (OC) use on peak oxygen consumption (V O2 peak). Six moderately active, eumenorrheic women (25.5 Ϯ 1.5 yr) were studied before and after 4 mo of OC. Subjects were tested during the follicular and luteal phases before OC and the inactive and high-dose phases after OC. Before OC, there were no significant differences between the follicular and luteal phases in any of the variables studied. There were also no differences between the inactive and high-dose phases. Dietary composition, exercise patterns, and peak heart rate, minute ventilation, and respiratory exchange ratio did not change with OC use. However, OC use significantly (P Յ 0.05) increased body weight (59.6 Ϯ 2.3 to 61.2 Ϯ 2.6 kg) and fat mass (13.3 Ϯ 1.3 to 14.5 Ϯ 1.3 kg) and decreased V O2 peak (Ϫ11%, 2.53 Ϯ 0.21 to 2.25 Ϯ 0.18 l/min). In conclusion, 1) endogenous ovarian steroids have little effect on V O2 peak, but 2) the exogenous ovarian steroids in OC decrease peak exercise capacity in moderately physically active young women. menstrual cycle; sex hormones; oxygen consumption; physical fitness and exertion PARTICIPATION BY WOMEN IN both recreational and competitive sports has increased dramatically over the last two decades. In addition, the US Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health recommends that women of all ages, not just athletes, include a minimum of 30 min of moderate-intensity exercise on most days of the week (25). However, dietary energy insufficiency associated with high-intensity exercise training and competition can increase a woman's risk of experiencing an abnormal menstrual cycle (3, 13). Abnormal menstrual cycles, with chronically low ovarian hormones, may increase the risk for osteopenia, osteoporosis, and fractures (7). Oral contraceptives (OCs) are used for birth control in normally menstruating young women, and, although controversial, OCs have been used to prevent bone loss in amenorrheic athletes (8,16). However, there is concern among athletes that these exogenous ovarian hormones affect exercise performance.Peak oxygen consumption (V O 2 peak ) is considered the "standard" for assessing aerobic exercise capacity (23), and V O 2 peak in women could vary owing to ovarian hormone influences on stroke volume, pulmonary minute ventilation, oxygen-carrying capacity, blood flow, and muscle oxygen utilization. Although the cyclic endogenous ovarian hormone fluctuations across the normal menstrual cycle do not appear to affect V O 2 peak (1, 6, 12), low-dose administration of exogenous estrogen and progesterone may have a greater influence on exercise capacity. Only a few studies have examined the effects of exogenous steroids on exercise performance by use of longitudinal study designs. Although short-term OC use (21 days) did not affect V O 2 peak (2), 6 mo of monophasic OC use was associated with a significant decrease in V O 2 peak in endurancetrained women (18).To our knowledge, no longitudinal studies have examined peak exercise capaci...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of oral contraceptives on peak exercise capacity

Casazza

Suh

Miller

et al. 2002

Journal of Applied Physiology

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Combined oral contraceptive use may reduce VO 2max although this is less apparent in trained athletes [58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65] .…”

Section: Oxygen Uptakementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many studies have shown that OC use results in a significant reduction in maximal oxygen uptake (VO 2max ) in non-athletic women after 2-6 months use 53,[58][59][60][61][62] which is reversed when OC use is terminated 58,60 . is may be due to a reduced activation of the sympathetic nervous system in ovarian suppressed women 63 or a reduction in mitochondrial citrate 58 .…”

Section: Is Oxygen Uptake Affected By Hormonal Contraceptive Use?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…B et al 60 detected a 7% reduction in VO 2max with OC use (35 µg EE, 1 mg Norethindrone), although this had no e ect on performance in a treadmill running exercise capacity test. Similarly, J et al 62 observed a reduced VO 2max in OC users compared to eumenorrheic controls; however there was no di erence in cycling capacity performance.…”

Section: Is Oxygen Uptake Affected By Hormonal Contraceptive Use?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Performance tests Combined oral contraceptives do not appear to acutely e ect exercise capacity or performance tests 26,60,62,[65][66] .…”

Section: Oxygen Uptakementioning

confidence: 99%

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