COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 8 A women's menstrual cycle and use of oral contraceptives may not explain the higher rate of anterior cruciate ligament injury in women, says a U.S. study.Lead author Ajit M.W. Chaudhari, of the Ohio State Sports Medicine Center in Columbus, and colleagues had female and male athletes perform three high-risk jumping and landing tasks and measured the impact on their knee and hip joints. They collected data during each phase of the women's menstrual cycles and on their use of oral contraceptives.The results show that hormone cycling in women does not appear to affect either the knee joint or hip joint during jumping and landing. Moreover, the use of an oral contraceptive does not appear to affect joint loading, according to the American Journal of Sports Medicine.Fatigue, differences in neuromuscular coordination, or ligament properties may better explain why females suffer more anterior cruciate ligament injuries than males, according to Chaudhari.Copyright 2007 by UPI
