Do Women Recover More Slowly from Concussions?

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By: Bill Henry
PublishedJul 7, 2020
1 minute read

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Women and Concussions

Today, I’m going to address the following question: do women recover more slowly from concussions than men? The evidence says that the answer is yes.

Women and Concussions: Why They’re More Severe

Women typically experience longer and more severe symptoms from a concussion than men do. One study showed that women have symptoms that last two to four times as long as men’s. Also, women had neurocognitive impairments for longer periods of time. And they also had more difficulty with remembering and concentrating.

Neuroanatomical differences

The next question, of course, is why that would be. There are three possible reasons or a combination of these reasons. One reason is just pure anatomy. Men and women are different. There are neuroanatomical differences between men and women. So they just have different brains.

Women have different neurosignals that work differently from the way men’s do, which could lead to men having a quicker response and recovery than women.

Anti-inflammatory markers

Another reason may be chemical. So after a brain injury, the body produces anti-inflammatory markers. Typically, a male’s response peaks at 24 hours. Whereas peak production of these anti-inflammatory markers for a woman could take up to a week.

Hormones

And the third possible reason is hormones. Studies show that boys and girls typically have similar symptoms, severity, and responses to recovery from a concussion. However, that changes at puberty. And it stays different until the age of menopause for women where men and women come back to having similar experiences with concussion and recovery from concussions.

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