Abstract

A study has been carried out to evaluate the incidence of the lack of iron and the role of microtrauma in 136 athletes (101 men and 35 women) practising different sports. As results, the women presented significantly lower values of ferritin, Hb, sideraemia and higher values of transferrin than men. Moreover, the long-distance runners presented lower values of ferritin, Hb and sideraemia than other women practising different sports. Those men practising the long-distance run presented lower values of ferritin, Hb, and sideraemia and significantly higher values of transferrin than other different sports athletes. In 15 long-distance runners haptoglobin was assayed before and after a 21 Km run: its lowering at 28.14 was evident. In 14 cyclists with a maximal training in the same run as the long-distance runners for 1 hour 30 minutes, haptoglobin was reduced to 3.3. From the collected data it seems that anaemia is much more frequent among women athletes and men long-distance runners and microtrauma plays an important role. Verf.-Referat