The Effect of Exogenous Estrogen and Progesterone Administration on Exercise Tolerance in Active Women

Abstract

The focus of the thesis is recreationally active women, with the intent to understand fundamental changes in the immunological and endocrinological response to exercise in relation endogenous and exogenous estrogen and progesterone secretion. Chapter one demonstrates the problem within the population and identifies the gaps in the literature, highlighting the purpose of the research as well as the research questions. Chapter two explores the current literature surrounding this research problem with emphasis placed upon the exercising population and females. Chapter three is experimental study one which explores the validity and reliability of a point of care saliva analysis test which will be used in subsequent studies and poses substantial benefits for applied sport science endocrinological testing. Chapter four is experimental study two which is an exploratory study investigating the immunological response to a single surf life saving event. Chapter five is experimental study three and explores the benefits and barriers for oral contraceptive use or non-use in women of varying physical activity levels. Chapter six is experimental study four and explores the mucosal immune and endocrinological response to incremental exercise in recreationally active women taking oral contraception compared with normally menstruating women. This chapter also explores the core body temperature (TC) response in women taking oral contraception to incremental exercise in thermo-neutral (TN) conditions (22C; r.h. 50%) and hot and humid (HH) (35C; r.h. 50%) environments and how this affects the mucosal immune system and the stress response. Chapter seven provides an overall discussion from all experimental studies and outlines future research to further the results attained from the present thesis. Chapter eight explains the principles behind the testing methodology used throughout the present thesis.

Date of Award	18 Oct 2016
Original language	English
Supervisor	Chris P McLellan (Supervisor)