Biological Challenges in Women's Sports, Joint Movements, and Common Disorders

Biological Challenges Faced by Women in Sports

Q27. ‘Women face certain hindrances in sports due to their biological cycle’. Explain these issues in brief.

Female Athlete Triad: Osteoporosis, Amenorrhea, Eating Disorders

The Female Athlete Triad is a syndrome that links three health problems: disordered eating, amenorrhea, and osteoporosis. Girls may begin to skip periods if they are not getting adequate nutrition for the amount of exercise they do (energy availability). Periods also may be irregular. Stress lowers estrogen levels, which may cause skipped periods. Low estrogen levels and a lack of menstrual periods can lead to low bone mass (low bone mineral density) and stress fractures (small cracks) in their bones. The female athlete triad is defined as the combination of disordered eating, amenorrhea, and osteoporosis. This disorder often goes unrecognized. The consequences of lost bone mineral density can be devastating for the female athlete. Premature osteoporotic fractures can occur, and lost bone mineral density may never be regained.

Understanding Various Types of Joint Movements

Q30. Describe various types of movements in joints with the help of examples.

1. Flexion: Flexion is a movement decreasing the angle between articulating bones. For example, flexion at the elbow is decreasing the angle between the ulna and the humerus.
2. Extension: Extension is the opposite of flexion, describing a straightening movement that increases the angle between body parts. For example, when standing up, the knees are extended.
3. Adduction: Adduction is a movement towards the midline of the body. It also applies to movements inwards and across the body. For example, moving the right femur extended out to the right side, inwards towards or across the center of the body.
4. Abduction: Abduction is a movement away from the midline of the body. For example, abduction of the hip is when the femur (upper-leg bone) moves outward to the side.
5. Rotation: Rotation is a movement in which something, e.g., a bone or a whole limb, pivots or revolves around a single long axis. For example, rotation of the head slowly from left to right or hip rotation.

Five Common Types of Disorders: Symptoms and Causes

Q32. Describe five types of disorders with their symptoms and causes.

(a) Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

It is a disorder in which a person is unable to control behavior due to difficulty in processing neural stimuli, accompanied by an extremely high level of motor activity. ADHD can affect children and adults, but it is easiest to perceive during schooling.

(b) Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) is a neurological disorder that causes difficulties with processing information from the five senses: vision, auditory, touch, olfaction, and taste, as well as from the sense of movement (vestibular system) and/or the positional sense (proprioception). Sensory Processing Disorder is a condition in which the brain has trouble receiving and responding to information that comes in through the senses.

(c) Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Autism is a complex neurobehavioral condition that includes impairments in social interaction and developmental language and communication skills combined with rigid, repetitive behaviors.

(d) Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)

Oppositional Defiant Disorder is defined by the DSM-5 as a pattern of angry/irritable mood, argumentative/defiant behavior. Oppositional defiant disorder can be defined in this way: “Even the best-behaved children can be difficult and challenging at times. But if your child or teen has a frequent and persistent pattern of anger, irritability, arguing, defiance, or vindictiveness toward you and other authority figures, they may have ODD.”

(e) Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder in which people have unwanted and repeated thoughts, feelings, ideas, sensations, and behaviors that drive them to do something over and over.