Study finds females recover more quickly from concussion

Bucking the emerging belief that females are more vulnerable to concussion, a new study finds that irrespective of the severity of initial concussive symptoms, girls and women who have suffered mild traumatic brain injury recover faster than do boys and men.

In a group of 47 men with concussions who were tracked, tested, and brain-scanned right after their diagnoses and followed until full recovery, the average "time to symptom resolution" was 66.9 days (with a median of 41 days). Among the 22 female patients with concussions, the average recovery time was 26.3 days (with a 21-day median), according to the University of Pennsylvania study.

The principal difference between the genders was the speed with which they could shake off such problems as headaches, dizziness, irritability, or concentration or memory difficulties.

The difference that seems to play a crucial role in concussion recovery lies at the heart of the brain, in the uncinate fasciculus. In female subjects who sustained blows to the head, brain scans revealed that the area was far less likely to be stretched, torn, and frayed than in male subjects with concussions.

Also, scientists have long suspected that progesterone, a female reproductive hormone believed to protect the brain during stroke or injury, should make women more resilient after concussions than are men. - L.A. Times