There's a Brain Injury and News Information blog. Who knew? Well, google news alerts did, and put me on to this following bit of information" We know that female athletes have a significantly higher rate of ACL tears than male athletes, but what about concussions?

You may have also noticed that more attention is being paid to concussions in male professional sports -- hockey and football in particular. A while back the New York Times had an article on concussions in high school football and how they were under-reported because athletes didn't want to risk not playing. Alan Schwarz has added to the concussion tome with an article entitled: "Girls Are Often Neglected Victims of Concussions."

According to a study to be published in the Journal of Athletic Training, in high school soccer, girls sustained concussions 68 percent more often than boys did. Female concussion rates in high school basketball were almost three times higher than among boys. Girls also consistently took longer for their symptoms to resolve and to return to play.

Explained a doctor:

“Generally speaking, the medical profession does not do a very good job in recognizing that female athletes sustain concussions at an equal or even higher rate as males,” said Dr. Robert Cantu of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, one of the nation’s leading experts in concussion management. “It’s flying under the radar. And as a result, looking for concussions in women is not pursued with the same diligence, and it’s setting girls up for a worse result.”

This is really a must read -- especially for anyone involved in youth sports with girls.