Possibilities of Using Combined Hormonal Contraceptives in Female Athletes

In Russia as well as all over the world, more and more women are systematically involved in sports. Female athletes are professionally mastering extreme sports, among other things. As is known, high-performance sports are characterized by excessive physical and psychological stress, which can cause dysfunction of various organs and systems. To denote the syndrome that combines disordered eating, amenorrhea, and osteoporosis in women involved in sports, the concept of the female athlete triad was proposed, which was later supplemented by the relatively energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) syndrome. Intense physical activity combined with a lack of energy can lead to pronounced imbalances in hormonal status and basal metabolism, as well as dysfunction of the cardiovascular, immune, and other body systems. One of the modern directions to prevent the female athlete triad may be the use of combined hormonal contraceptives, which is a reliable method of contraception with additional positive effects on the condition of the female body under the influence of intense physical exertion.

This article discusses the pathogenetic mechanisms of the female athlete triad, the possibility of using combined hormonal contraceptives to prevent and correct adverse effects on the body, and their impact on athletic performance and the reproductive health of female athletes.