ADVERTISING: Advertorial — What makes females more susceptible to concussions?

There’s roughly two million sports related concussions a year in the U.S. There is little known about the specific effects of Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI), such as concussions on women, mainly because the majority of published studies on the subject have focused more on men.

Studies suggest that female athletes are not only more susceptible to concussion than males, they also experience or report a higher number and severity of symptoms as well as a longer duration of recovery than male athletes. But there are many other causes of traumatic brain injury, including falls, motor vehicle accidents, and blows to the head. Although the range of symptoms reported after a concussion are the same between the two; such as headaches, mental fatigue, concentration difficulties and mood swings, the research on length of recovery is mixed, but overall supports that women take longer to recover than men.

Research has shown that gender-based differences may be due to a combination of factors.

Female athletes generally have shorter and narrower necks along with smaller heads. These factors are associated with less neck strength compared to males. Neck strength is a protective factor against concussion, women may be more susceptible for this reason.

Female brains metabolize glucose and oxygen faster than male brains. If a head injury temporarily disrupts blood supply to the brain, it could have a greater effect on the faster nutrient-burning female brain.

But a really interesting study performed at University of Pennsylvania for Brain Injury and Repair found that women have smaller, more breakable nerve fibers in the brain compared to men that may make them more susceptible to concussions.

The research team found that female axons were smaller and had fewer microtubules and were more likely to break after applying the same amount of force from a simulated traumatic brain injury. Microtubules in a neuron are used to transport substances to different parts of the cell.

That breaking of the microtubules is what researcher’s hypothesize may lead to symptoms associated with concussions. This may also help explain why female athletes have an increased risk of concussions and worse outcomes than male athletes, as previous studies have shown.

“The paper shows us that there is a fundamental, anatomical difference between male and female axons,” Smith said. “In the male axon, there are a great number of microtubules, which make the entire structure stronger, whereas in female axons, it’s more of a leaner type of architecture, so it’s not as strong.” When someone suffers a traumatic blow to the head, the axons are stretched at a very rapid rate. While the axons typically stay intact, their microtubules can break under the strain, setting off a molecular imbalance.

While research shows females may have different injury rates, symptoms, and rates of recovery, the medical community does not yet have any female-specific guidelines, protocols, care plans or education resources for women with brain injury including concussions.

At Natural Spine Solutions we treat people suffering from TBI’s using Cold Laser Therapy or Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT). LLLT has been shown in studies to stimulate the healing and repair of damaged brain tissue while also reducing pain, swelling and inflammation of brain tissues along with surrounding neck and head tissues. LLLT can help patients recover more quickly and more successfully after a brain injury or concussion.

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Dr. Wayne M. Fichter Jr. is a chiropractor at Natural Spine Solutions. The business is located at 3913 Schreiber Way in Coeur d’Alene. For more information, please contact us at 208-966-4425.