CNF’s Women in Sports Week

Women are from Venus and Men are from Mars!

That’s what I’m told every day by my wife and I believe it.  This is especially true when it comes to health and medical research.

For centuries, medical research was conducted primarily on men.  It wasn’t until recently that medical research began to look at women’s health differently. Womens’ hearts are different from mens’ hearts – and so are their brains.

When it comes to concussions, research has shown that female athletes are twice as likely to suffer a concussion and take twice as long to heal as their male counterparts.  And the way in which they are impacted can differ drastically as well.  For example, a research study’s outcomes, conducted at Magee Women’s Research Institute and published in JAMA Pediatrics titled, “Association of Concussion With Abnormal Menstrual Patterns in Adolescent and Young Women,” indicates that female athletes may have an increased risk of multiple abnormal menstrual patterns following a concussion.

Fourteen years ago, one of our board member’s daughters suffered a concussion while playing travel league soccer.  The daughter and the goalie collided during game play. She was told by an ER doctor that it was simply a migraine and that she would recover just fine.  Several years later, while playing lacrosse in high school, the same daughter suffered another blow to the head, this time from a stick and then the ground. (Male lacrosse players are required to wear a helmet, while female players are not allowed to wear any headgear.)  Fortunately, following this second incident, she received specialized care from one of the best doctors in concussion treatment in Pittsburgh, the epicenter of concussion care, research, and innovation in the nation.

It’s time we dedicate more concussion research on female athletes and women overall. Remember, women are from Venus and men are from Mars.

John Denny, Executive Director