Teen girls have double concussion risk of boys

[WarriorN]

Important research on sex differences in sport between girls and boys.

I know there's current research on dementia in female and male football and rugby players, as a result of head impacts and injuries, with women having more risk for this.

Research was done in the US interestingly and makes a stronge case for sex differences to be taken note of, and focus on impact rather than collisions.

Girls were less likely to be taken off pitch.

Teen girl footballers have double concussion risk of boys www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56894240

The ski team has a concussion management protocol that includes baseline testing. Here is the general language:

Athletes in many sports are vulnerable to a blow to the head that may result in a concussion. Although you will be wearing a helmet whenever you are on the slopes with XXXX, the risk of suffering a concussion during the season remains. When concussions do occur, athletes are required to take a break from the sport and return only after being cleared to participate again by professionally trained concussion expert. One tool available to medical care personnel is a computerized concussion test. For this test to be most helpful, athletes are asked to take the test when the brain is “healthy”, that is, when it hasn’t sustained a concussion. The test measures multiple cognitive functions and gives each athlete a score for each area measured. Should the athlete suffer a concussion, the physician or attending care giver may elect to have you re-take the concussion test (after all the concussion symptoms have disappeared) in order to compare pre and post-concussion cognitive functions. If the scores don’t align well, your physician or other qualified medical care professional may continue to restrict your activity until your scores improve. When a concussion is sustained, your brain must fully heal before you can return to play. If someone with a concussion sustains a second concussion before the first concussion has fully healed, the risk of long-term cognitive damage increases greatly. So, please set aside on of the two dates and times listed above to take your baseline test. If you can’t attend either of these testing dates, you will need to contact the athletic trainer at your high school to arrange to take the test at another time.

The ski team relies on this protocol testing:

impactconcussion.com/

In the coach's presentation to parents, he noted the higher risk to girls for concussion, using this study, among others. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24334504/

While they treat boy and girls concussions equally seriously, the coach is adamant about his staff to seek immediate medical treatment after intense crashes and when some grumble they are "fine to race," he always quotes the "girl are at greater risk for severe concussion."

And an easier to read example. www.childrenshospital.org/-/media/Centers-and-Services/Departments-and-Divisions/Sports-Medicine-Division/Female-Athlete-Program/FemaleAthleteSeriesConcussionV6.ashx?la=en&hash=37A16DB172F5482B93A1375C1D4E818DCBABFEB6

Thank you for these incredibly informative links and information.

It's shocking that in some sports the fact that girls are at more risk isn't played out in protocol.

I remember this being discussed in the last year on WH (JG) and in addition to finer neurones, and it seems neck strength, they note that both the skull can be thinner and there's a big impact of how the female hormones varies during the cycle.

They are even pinpointing times in the menstrual cycle where the brain is more vulnerable to damage than others.

All huge implications for women's sports.

That was Dr Stewart at Glasgow:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07zt9zf

Sorry Prof, same person Chaz, thanks for the link.

I'll also add this which is really interesting and I recently bought her book:

thedoctorskitchen.com/womens-health/the-doctors-kitchen-podcast-59-how-to-reverse-ageing-part-3-of-4-the-female-ageing-brain-with-dr-lisa-mosconi

Bikini medicine is definitely a thing, isn't it?

•	The statistics regarding how women are far more likely than men to suffer from anxiety, depression, migraines, poor recovery from brain injuries, Autoimmune conditions like MS and Alzheimer’s disease.
•	What she refers to as Bikini Medicine
•	Her personal Story of Alzheimer’s in her family
•	What the ‘Women’s Brain initiative’ aims to achieve in science
•	How women’s brains age distinctly from men’s
•	The unique risks women face
•	How memory lapses, depression, stress, insomnia and the increased risk of dementia are key issues during menopause that arise in the brain rather than the reproductive organs
•	The key brain-protective hormone: Oestrogen
•	Abandoning one size fits all medicine and embracing personalised medicine
•	8 steps to improving women’s brain health including: Diet, Stress reduction, Sleep, harnessing the power of the Microbiome, deciding if HRT therapy is for you, Environmental toxins and supplements

Thanks @WarriorN for additional information- I didn't realize the difference in skull thickness. Great info!!

yes, I'm glad we have a coach who pays attention to the differences in boys and girls bodies with respect to risks...I would never have known about neck strength differences had he not given us that presentation-no doctor or other coach ever shared that information on girls and concussions!