This 1-year longitudinal study of 34 female dancers in training explored the frequency and range of adaptive responses of menstrual cycle hormones to exercise, as well as practical ways of identifying dancers at risk of developing negative adaptive responses to pre-professional dance training. Over the course of the study, there was a high occurrence of negative adaptive responses in the female hormone network, often in the form of subclinical ovulatory disturbances. The study indicates practical ways of identifying athletes at risk of these negative endocrine adaptations based on the correlations found between the Dance Energy Availability Questionnaire (DEAQ)–calculated REDs Risk Score and endocrine status. Early identification of athletes at risk would enable timely, preventative, and personalised support to be implemented.
Dr Nicola Keay, BA, MA, MB, BChir (Cantab), MRCP, is a medical doctor with expertise in the field of exercise endocrinology. Her research into the impacts of lifestyle, nutrition, and exercise on hormone networks has been published in peer-reviewed journals. She is the author of Hormones, Health and Human Potential and editor of Myths of Menopause. Nicky holds the position of Honorary Clinical Lecturer in the Division of Medicine at University College London.
Nicky’s clinical endocrine work is particularly with exercisers, dancers, and athletes, focussing on female hormone health, relative energy deficiency in sport (REDs), and women experiencing perimenopause and menopause. Nicky is the medical advisor to Scottish Ballet and a keen ballet dancer.
Dr Keay studied medicine at Cambridge University. After gaining Membership of the Royal College of Physicians, London, UK, she worked as a Research Fellow at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, where she was part of the international medical team that developed an anti-doping test for growth hormone. She is a member of the British Menopause Society (BMS) and has completed the BMS Principles and Practice of Menopause Care training programme and Management of Menopause certification.
