Dr Nicky Keay: energy availability questionnaires, amenorrhoea treatment, and RED-S

The Women in Sport & Exercise Academic Network Podcast

Dr Nicola Keay BA, MB (Cantab), MB, BChir, MRCP, studied medicine at Cambridge University, with clinical attachments including sports medicine clinics in Australia and University of Geneva. After gaining Membership of the Royal College of Physicians, Nicky trained in endocrinology. As a Research Fellow at St Thomas’ Hospital, she was part of the international medical team which developed an anti-doping test for growth hormone. With sport medicine grants, Nicky researched and published on the training effects on the endocrine system. More recent publications include those on competitive male cyclists and relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-S). Currently, Nicky is an Honorary Fellow at Durham University in the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences researching the risk of RED-S in dancers and athletes.

Nicky wrote the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine (BASEM) educational website Health4Performance on RED-S. She is the medical advisor to Scottish Ballet, part of multidisciplinary team at EN:SPIRE clinic for dancers and athletes and Chief Medical Officer of Forth Edge, providing medical interpretation of blood tests to athletes. Nicky frequency writes blogs for the British Journal of Sport Medicine (BJSM), such as “Of Mice and Men…”

In this podcast, I asked Nicky about the energy availability questionnaire that she has developed, her personal experiences and thoughts on reversibility and treatment for amenorrhoea, the lack of research on women within medicine, her current research and her future plans.

www.nickykeayfitness.com

Selected Publications

Clinical evaluation of education relating to nutrition and skeletal loading in competitive male road cyclists at risk of relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-S): 6-month randomised controlled trial Keay N, Francis G, Entwistle I, Hind K, BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 2019

Infographic. Energy availability: Concept, control and consequences in relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) Keay N, Francis G, British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2019

Low energy availability assessed by a sport-specific questionnaire and clinical interview indicative of bone health, endocrine profile and cycling performance in competitive male cyclists Keay N, Francis G, Hind K, BMJ Open Sports and Exercise Medicine, 2018

Growth hormone (GH) effects on bone and collagen turnover in healthy adults and its potential as a marker of GH abuse in sports: A double blind, placebo-controlled study, Keay N, Longobardi S, Ehrnborg C et al., Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (2000) 85(4) 1505-1512

Bone mineral density in professional female dancers, Keay N, Blake G, Fogleman I, British Journal of Sports Medicine (1997) 31(2) 143-147