Hormones, Menopause and Swimming Performance

Mary Pohlmann, M.D., Ph.D.Emeritus Clinical Faculty

Synonyms for Menopause

• The Change

• Climacteric

• Woman of a certain age

• “Silent Passage” Gail Sheehy

Definition of Menopause

• lack of menses for greater than one year

• usually comes naturally in women ages 45-55

• can occur after oophorectomy, chemotherapy or irradiation

• perimenopause is the 3-6 years prior to menopause

Cause of Menopause

Decrease in production of estrogen by the ovaries

Some estrogen continues to be produced outside the ovaries, particularly in fatty tissue and the adrenal glands

Laboratory evidence of menopause

Pituitary gland secretes

FSH and LH

in response to inability of ovaries to produce estrogen and progesterone

Symptoms of Perimenopause

• menstrual irregularity

• hot flashes or flushes

• night sweats

• insomnia

• vaginal dryness

How does menopause/perimenopause

affect swimmers’ performance?

• Fifteen female competitive Masters swimmers, ages 54 -74, completed a survey.

• They were asked about their training and performance during perimenopause/menopause.

• They were asked to what extent menopause seemed to affect their performance.

S/S Related to Menopause?

• Hot flashes/ flushes/ dehydration• Decreased tolerance to warm water • Muscle cramping• Slower recovery from exercise• Inadequate sleep/ night sweats/ fatigue• Weight gain• Aches and pains• Improvement due to lack of menorrhagia

Other Factors unrelated to Menopause

• Interruptions in training• Injuries (non-swimming activities)• Moving • No place to swim• High blood pressure• Arthritis, bad knees, fibromyalgia• Stress• Loss of strength and stamina• Heart problems• Asthma and other breathing problems

Hormone Replacement Use

• One had never used HRT.

• Four had not used HRT in the past 2 years

• Ten had used HRT in the past 2 years, but have discontinued use or are weaning off.

Bone Health

• 13 had bone densitometry done.• One has osteoporosis and is

taking medication for this.• Two mentioned osteopenia - one

is being treated for this.• Two mentioned calcium

supplementation.• One mentioned weight-bearing

exercise, but 11 indicated they do exercise other than swimming.

Are there gender differences in swimming performance as one

ages?

We compared 2004 USMS records for women over the age span of 40-59 with current USMS records for men over the same age span.

Method

• Current USMS men’s and women’s SCY records in all 18 events for age groups 40-44 through 55-59 were used. All times were converted to seconds.

• The ratio of the record for each event in each age group and for each gender was calculated with respect to the comparable record in the 40-44 age group.

• The ratios for all 18 events in a given age group were averaged (men and women separately).

• The averaged ratios were plotted over age groups for both men and women.

USMS Records By Age Group

11.021.041.061.08

1.11.121.141.161.18

1.21.22

40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59

Age Group

Male

Female

We also did a longitudinal comparison of individual males and females best times in each

age group (40-54)

Individual Swimmer Times By Age Group

11.011.021.031.041.051.061.071.08

40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59

Age Group

Female-BD

Male-FS

We also compared individual times longitudinally with

current USMS records over the same age groups

Female Individual vs USMS Record Times by Age Group

1

1.04

1.08

1.12

1.16

1.2

1.24

40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59

Age Group

Female Ind.

Female Rec.

Male Individual vs USMS Record Times by Age Group

11.021.041.061.08

1.11.121.14

40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59

Age Group

Male Ind.

Male Rec.

There is a difference in the rate of slowing of swimming performance between men and women.

Menopause alone is probably not the greatest factor influencing this difference.

Keeping the age-related decline in swimming performance below 1% per year is definitely possible.