Wednesday, 6 August 2008

Men And Women With History Of Concussion Mend Differently, Study Finds - Concussion Treatment Needs To Be More Individualized

�Female soccer players and soccer players who make had a previous concussion recuperate otherwise from males or players without a history of concussion, new research released at the 2008 American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting at JW Marriott Orland Grande Lakes shows. The work found that prior account of concussion and sex account for significant differences in test results following the injury. Because of these differences, the authors urge physicians and coaches to claim an individualized approach to treating concussion patients.




"The results of this study suggest that physicians should not be taking a one-size-fits-all approach to treating concussions," said co-author Alexis Chiang Colvin, MD, Sports Medicine Fellow for the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "Our study shows that patients with a chronicle of a previous concussion perform worse than patients without a previous history on neurocognitive tests interpreted after they sustain a concussion. Furthermore, females perform worse than males on post-concussion testing, as well."




The authors chose to examine concussion recovery patterns in association football players due to the popularity of the sport among both genders. Also, it is a non-helmeted sport with identical rules for all participation levels for both genders. In the United States, thither are 'tween 1 and 4 billion estimated sports-related concussions each year. The most plebeian causes of concussion in soccer let in, head-to-head touch, head contact with other body parts and head-to-ground contact.




A concussion is an injury to the brain that results in temporary going of normal brain occasion, usually caused by a blow to the head. Concussions tin can affect memory, judgment, reflexes, speech, balance wheel and coordination.




The study had 234 soccer players (61 pct female, 39 percent male) ranging in age from 8 to 24 days old, world Health Organization were minded neuropsychological tests that mensural attention, memory, processing f number and reaction time after their concussion. The results of the tests were analyzed to see if there were group differences in performance between male and female participants and those with a late history of concussion.




The study establish that females performed significantly worse than males on tests of reaction time. Females were also significantly more symptomatic than males. Additionally, thither was a trend, although not important, towards females testing sickly regarding verbal memory and processing focal ratio when compared to males.




Soccer players with a history of concussion performed significantly worse on verbal memory testing after some other concussion, the study establish.




"There's a theory that males typically have a stronger neck and body that pot handle forces better," said Dr. Colvin. "But when we accounted for Body Mass Index in this study, we still establish a difference of opinion between males and females. Therefore, thither are differences in retrieval between genders that cannot simply be attributed to size departure. More studies are required to determine the reason for differences in recovery between males and females."




The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) is a world leader in sports medicine education, research, communication and fellowship, and includes national and international orthopedical sports medicament leaders. The Society works closely with many other sports medicine specialists, including athletic trainers, physical therapists, family physicians, and others to meliorate the identification, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of sports injuries. http://www.aossm.org




http://www.sportsmed.org



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