Muscle and Ligament Strength in Menopause with Kathryn Ackerman, MD, MPH (Episode 90)

If you’re feeling more injury prone, you’re not alone. Many women who have led active, athletic lives without a lot of injuries and “itises” suddenly find themselves sidelined more often during the menopause transition. Fluctuating and declining hormone levels directly impact your musculoskeletal system, as do your lifelong movement patterns, exercise habits, recovery practices, and nutrition–all of which become increasingly important during this time of life. This week’s guest, sports medicine physician and endocrinologist Kathryn Ackerman, MD, MPH, dives into what we know, what we’ve yet to learn, and what we should be doing right now to dial it all in to stay strong through menopause and beyond.

Kathryn is the medical director of the Female Athlete Program in the Sports Medicine Division at Boston Children's Hospital. Her interests include female athletes, rowing injuries, endocrinology, relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S), optimizing performance and health in athletes with diabetes, exercise-associated hyponatremia, and exercise and bone health. She is also a former national team lightweight rower, chair of the US Rowing Medical Commission, member of the World Rowing Medical Commission, and the course director for the Female Athlete Conference, held biennially at Boston Children's Hospital. You can learn more about her here and the paper she references on the Effect of Estrogen on Musculoskeletal Performance and Injury Risk by Keith Barr here. 

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