Recent News
Education
Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara
Courses Taught
- BIOS 4450/5450 Physiology of Exercise
- EXPH 4140/5140 Physiology of Exercise
- BIOS 4500/5500 Principles of Endocrinology
Research Interests
At Ohio University, my lab has conducted randomized, prospective, controlled experiments investigating the physiological mechanisms mediating the influences of diet and exercise on the endocrine regulation of fuel metabolism, reproductive function and bone turnover in men and women. The aim of these experiments has to acquire knowledge that will be useful for refining nutritional guidelines to better protect the health of athletes, military personnel and others who strive to improve their performance in physically demanding activities. These experiments were the first to apply the concept of energy availability in clinical research. The current focus of my laboratory is the further development of a technology for measuring the mechanical properties (i.e., mass, stiffness and damping) of long bones in humans in vivo. My purpose in developing mechanical response tissue analysis (MRTA) is to be able to use it myself for investigating the independent effects of energy availability and exercise on the mechanical properties of bone. Others may find MRTA useful in a much wider range of clinical research and practice related to skeletal health and development.
Biography
I received my doctoral degree in physiology in 1983 from the University of California, Santa Barbara. As a post-doctoral Ph.D. fellow in the Department of Reproductive Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, Medical School, I conducted extensive endocrine characterizations of female athletes. At Ohio University I have conducted controlled experiments investigating physiological mechanisms mediating the effect of diet and exercise on endocrine regulation of fuel metabolism, reproductive function and bone turnover in men and women. I am a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), and have received honors and awards for my research from ACSM and from The Endocrine Society and Pfizer, Inc. I have been a co-author of the position stands of ACSM and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the Female Athlete Triad. The IOC, the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), and the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) have included me in international consensus conferences on the influences of nutrition on health and performance in their sports. I have also served as an adviser to the medical and nutritional staffs of the Australian, German and English Institutes of Sports.
Representative Publications
Loucks, A.B., B. Kiens, and H.H. Wright. Energy Availability in Athletes. J. Sports Sci. 29(S1):S7-S15, 2011.
Loucks, A.B. Is Stress Measured In Joules? Military Psychology, 21(1): S101-S107, 2009.
Nattiv, A, A.B. Loucks, M.M. Manore, C.F. Sanborn, J. Sundgot-Borgen, and M.P. Warren. Position Stand on the Female Athlete Triad. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. ,39: 1867-1882, 2007.
Loucks, A.B. The response of luteinizing hormone pulsatility to five days of low energy availability disappears by 14 years of gynecological age. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab, 91:3158-3164, 2006.
Loucks, A.B. and J.R. Thuma. LH pulsatility is disrupted at a threshold of energy availability in regularly menstruating women. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab 88:297-301, 2003.