Women who are physically active have healthier bodies and are less likely to suffer from depression compared with women who do not engage in sports and exercise. Unfortunately, engaging in intense sports also appears to pose certain problems. A new study found that female triathletes are prone to have certain unwanted health conditions.

In a new study presented at this year's American Urogynecologic Society Scientific Meeting, researchers from the Loyola University Health System (LUHS) in Illinois, found that female triathletes have increased risks to suffer from pelvic floor disorders, which affects the muscles that support the pelvic organs and cause symptoms such as urinary incontinence and anal incontinence. They are also likely to have decreased energy, irregular menstruation and abnormal bone density.

For the study, Colleen Fitzgerald, a physiatrist from the LUHS, and colleagues surveyed more than 300 women who were about 35 to 44 years old and were associated with triathlete groups. Eighty-two percent of the women were training for triathlon spending several days per week running, biking and swimming when they were surveyed.

One third of the women said that they had symptoms of pelvic floor disorder. Of these, more than 37 percent suffered from stress urinary incontinence, 28 percent reported to have bowel incontinence, 16 percent suffered from urgency urinary incontinence and 5 percent had pelvic organ prolapse. The researchers also found that 29 percent of those who were surveyed had abnormal bone strength, 22 percent had problematic eating habits and 24 percent had irregular menstruations.

"There has been a surge in popularity of high-impact sports such as triathlons, but little has been known until now about the prevalence of pelvic health and certain other issues associated with endurance training and events," Fitzgerald said.

Study researcher Johnny Yi, a urogynecologist from the LUHS, said while pelvic-floor disorders and the so called female athlete triad, which is characterized by a combination of three conditions namely weakening of the bones, or osteoporosis, disordered eating and loss of menstrual period, or amenorrhea, are common in female triathletes, these are usually ignored.

Yi said that health service providers should be aware of how prevalent these conditions are particularly among athletes and should provide affected individuals with the appropriate treatment to prevent unwanted long term consequences.

Although the findings of the survey show a link between triathlon training and certain health issues, the study did not establish a causal relationship, which means it did not provide evidence that triathlon training causes pelvic floor disorders and other health problems.