Researchers Attempt to Close the Brain Injury Data Gender Gap 

Researchers Look at Closing the Brain Injury Data Gender Gap 

In 2017, a workshop conducted by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a subgroup of the National Institutes of Health, concluded that women “have historically been under-represented in traumatic brain injury (TBI) clinical trials.” A new paper published by the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation has since updated the findings of the workshop and presented several strategies for advancing research in women with TBIs.

Underrepresentation in Brain Injury Data

The workshop found that many specifically exclude women and that many animal studies either excluded females or used ovariectomized specimens, leading to an incomplete understanding of how TBIs affect females. The new paper states that current information from clinical and preclinical studies leaves large gaps in the scientific understanding of sex or gender-related differences in prevention, secondary injury, epidemiology, therapeutics, neuroprotection, rehabilitation timing, and specific outcomes.

The newer paper concludes that, despite efforts following the workshop three years earlier, there is an abundance of TBI research focused on males and very little that deals specifically with females.

Sex Differences in TBI

The new paper predicts that there are meaningful differences in TBI injuries based on sex differences, citing a “vast body of literature” that demonstrates important differences between males and females in regional and whole-brain measures of brain function and anatomy in healthy brains. Because of these differences, the authors of the new paper state that it is “vital” to address the effects of both gender and sex on all aspects of TBI through all stages of life in order to produce better clinical care and scientific knowledge for women and girls who suffer these injuries.

As an example, studies referred to in the paper have suggested that women may have different TBI outcomes depending on when the injury occurred during their menstrual cycle, suggesting that increased levels of the hormone progesterone during brain injury might be associated with lowered quality of life following TBI.

Additionally, the paper concludes that little is known about military-related TBI in female soldiers despite studies that have reported sex-based differences in functional connectivity. The workshop and paper both suggested that increasing the number of female veterans in search studies would help researchers better understate long-term and acute recovery of TBI’s in women.

Strategies

At the end of the paper, the authors cite some suggestions for strategies to close this knowledge gap. These suggestions include:

  • Encouraging communication and collaboration between experts in TBI and sex differences research
  • Enhanced implementation of sex as a biological variable in NIH policy
  • Research plans that aim to include sex as a variable rather than trying to rule it out through focusing on only one sex
  • Inclusion of assessments and assays for determining hormone levels when TBI injury data is collected
  • Focus on sex-specific social and environmental factors

Other Blogs by Ed Smith, Rocklin Brain Injury Lawyer

Rocklin Brain Injury Lawyer

I’m Ed Smith, a Rocklin brain injury lawyer. The effects of a brain injury can change your life. If you have suffered a serious brain injury during an accident, please contact our team by calling us at either (800) 404-5400 or (916) 921-6400.

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