Study Explains Why Females Fare Better Than Males After Traumatic Injury

Women fare better than men when it comes to recovering from traumatic injury. Now a new study has discovered why.

In the study, Dr. Ed W. Childs and colleagues at Scott and White Healthcare looked at how female versus male rats fared after suffering a trauma and subsequent hemorrhagic shock that were given Estradiol (estrogen).

Researchers found that Estradiol prevented vascular permeability following hemorrhagic shock.

"We've always known that females fare better than males after traumatic injury, but we never knew why, now we know a potential mechanism," said Childs.

"This study proved that estrogen receptors on the mitochondria of our cells actually help protect these cells on females after injury. But, if you block those estrogen receptors, they perform like those of a male," Childs added.

The study has been published in the September 2010 issue of SHOCK.

Source: ANI