Health experts from across the UK will meet in Scotland this week to discuss how technology and data research can improve women’s participation and performance in sport.
The Scottish Women in Sport 2022 conference, to be held at the University of the West of Scotland in Hamilton on Tuesday, will examine how technology and women’s sport can intersect.
Pioneering platforms include Hormonix, created by UK-based Mint Diagnostics, which is a new method of collecting and analysing hormone data to monitor menstrual cycles using saliva rather than blood samples. “Tracking and collecting hormone data in a non-invasive way is an important tool in the duty of care for female athletes,” said Dr Emma Ross, a consultant for Hormonix who will present at the conference.
“The first sign that a female athlete isn’t getting the balance right between training and fuelling her body is her menstrual cycle will become dysfunctional. If elite athletes train too hard, their periods can stop as their body tries to conserve energy. Compromising their menstrual cycle can have significant consequences as it blocks essential hormones like estrogen, which promotes bone strength and muscle repair.”
Access to individual hormone data will allow athletes to optimise training schedules to be in tune with their menstrual cycles and bodies. “It will also allow us to better understand the menstrual cycle and how to work with it to improve health and performance,” added Ross, who also works for The Well HQ, an online platform promoting women’s health.
“No female athlete should be held back by her menstrual cycle, so real-time hormone data profiles can help us offer targeted interventions and training, and better understand why an athlete might have severe symptoms or hormone imbalances.”
Saliva samples are analysed in a laboratory. However, the end goal is to create a small, portable reader that can process hormone data in real-time, offering a more accurate picture of an athlete’s menstrual health.
“The next step is trying to shrink a lab into a reader the size of a mobile phone. We are 12 months from that,” said Dr Ross, who added that the technology is also being trialled with women going through IVF who require regular hormone tests.
According to The Well HQ, just 6% of sport science and medical research is conducted exclusively on women. The conference will also reveal how lecturers at the University of the West of Scotland are bucking this trend.
Dr Laura Forrest’s research has focused on understanding the relationship between health, menstrual cycle and performance for female athletes, while Dr Eilidh Macrae studies how pregnant and postpartum women access and engage in exercise. Dr Macrae said: “Many exercise barriers during pregnancy and post-partum can be helped with the right advice or the right support, so that’s where we’re trying to connect the dots and ensure the right advice from trusted sources is put in place.”
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