Anemia and immunological profile in young female Cameroonian professional handball players

Abstract

The physiological demands of modern sports competition involve biological monitoring of athletes which unfortunately is scarce in African countries. The aim of this study was to study the variations in hematological and immunological parameters after a two-week training session in Cameroonian handball players. 29 handball players aged 25±2 years (height: 1.65±0.06 m; weight: 64.47±6.21 Kg; BMI: 23.62±2.46 Kg/m2) followed a specific training program two weeks with blood samples taken at the start and end of the program to determine the variation in their blood count. More than half (15) of the participants had hemoglobin levels below normative values. A significant increase in the amount of leukocytes in the anemic group (10.85%, p0.05) were observed. The individual analysis of the different types of leukocytes shows contrasting variations between the 2 groups of subjects. Basophils and eosinophils decreased in anemic sportswomen (p>0.05) and increased in