Does the contraceptive pill alter an athlete’s performance?

 Does the contraceptive pill alter a female athlete’s performance? This is the question posed by new research at Griffith University.
“Already it is well known that the combined contraceptive pill changes female physiology by increasing the core body temperature across the whole of the menstrual cycle and altering the ability to regulate heat,” says research co-leader Associate Professor Clare Minahan from Griffith’s Menzies Health Institute Queensland.
“The pill also delays the blood flow to the skin, therefore decreasing a woman’s ability to cool down quickly.
“Thermoregulation is therefore extremely important when it comes to elite athletes and their performance, especially when it takes place in hot climates such as that in Queensland.
“This preliminary study is aiming to investigate more about how the contraceptive pill can alter this elite athlete performance and inform the sporting community of the scientific evidence and the potential pros and cons for female athletes.”
40 elite athletes
The study which is

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