Over the years those who study ABI have discussed the possibility that gender could play a significant role in the symptoms one experiences after suffering ABI. Last year, CTV News did a feature on this developing concept. Additionally, at this time BIST highlighted new research demonstrating the differences in concussion symptoms between boys and girls.
BIST featured a specific study performed on high school athletes who suffered concussions. The research showed that there indeed was a difference in specific symptoms that were exhibited by girls than those of boys. This presents an important question, if the diagnosis of concussions is based on symptoms and these symptoms can vary due to gender, do we have to change the way we care for males/females who sustain head injuries?
In Washington D.C. the National Athletic Trainers Association Youth Sports Safety Summit examined 812 sports related concussions in 610 males and 202 females. They found that headaches were a common occurrence regardless of gender but some secondary symptoms such as confusion, disorientation, amnesia, and noise sensitivity differed by gender. In this study, females were three times more likely to be sensitive to noise after a concussion, and almost 1/3 of those females reported feeling drowsy whereas only 1/5 of males reported this symptom. More than twice the number of boys reported amnesia when compared to the females in this study, further outlining the differences in symptoms between males and females. Unfortunately, diagnosing a concussion is difficult, as Dr. Dawn Comstock explains, "No biological markers exist to detect concussions, so diagnosis largely depends on a patients own report.
Diagnosing a concussion is further complicated by the tendency of many athletes to under-report or hide their symptoms from their doctors, athletic trainers, coaches and parents." Diagnosis is dependent on many factors but this research has shed light on the fact that there should be precautions taken when diagnosing different genders for concussions. One similarity is that recovery time tends not to differ between genders.
Gluckstein Personal Injury Lawyers cannot stress how important it is to report ALL of your symptoms if you suffer a head injury. Being honest about your symptoms with your healthcare professionals will make the situation better. Sustaining a head injury can have lifelong consequences if it is not properly diagnosed and treated. References:
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