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The study, led by Tracey Covassin of MSU's Department ofKinesiology, found females performed worse than males on visualmemory tests and reported more symptoms postconcussion. Additionally, high school athletes performed worse than collegeathletes on verbal and visual memory tests, and some of the youngerathletes still were impaired up to two weeks after their injuries. "While previous research suggests younger athletes and femalesmay take longer to recover from a concussion, little was knownabout the interactive effects of age and sex on symptoms, cognitivetesting and postural stability," said Covassin, a certifiedathletic trainer at MSU. "This study confirms that age and sex have an impact onrecovery, and future research should focus on developing treatmentstailored to those differences." The research funded by a two-year grant from the National OperatingCommittee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, appears in thecurrent edition of the American Journal of Sports Medicine. Between 2001 and 2005, federal statistics reveal more than 150,000sport-related concussions occurred among youth ages 14 to 19.However, the actual number is likely much higher, as currentstatistics reflects only concussions that involved visits to theemergency departments. The study led by Covassin looked at nearly 300 concussed athletesfrom multiple states over two years. All of the athletes hadpreviously completed a baseline test before taking three differentpostconcussion tests, the same ones used in professional sports,after being injured. When it comes to sex differences, Covassin -- who has worked withthousands of young athletes across mid-Michigan since coming to MSUin 2005 -- said what often is needed most is simple education. "We need to raise awareness that yes, female athletes do getconcussions," she said. "Too often, when we speak withparents and coaches, they overlook the fact that in comparablesports, females are concussed more than males." Coupled with the fact that high school athletes take longer torecover than collegiate athletes, Covassin said the study reveals areal potential danger to younger athletes by not fully recoveringafter a concussion. "Younger athletes appear more at risk for second-impactsyndrome, where a second concussion can come with more severesymptoms," she said. "While it is rare, there is aserious risk for brain damage, and the risk is heightened whenathletes are coming back before they heal." The next steps, Covassin said, are to investigate sex and agedifferences at the youth sport level and whether treatment optionsneeded to be tailored for an athlete's age. "If we can develop treatments that speak directly to sex andage, I think we can better protect athletes from the long-term sideeffects of concussions," she said. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Wireline Drill Rod , China Plastic Pipe Welding Machine for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Wireline Core Barrel.
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