Why Females Fare Better Than Males after Traumatic Injury

(From Science Daily) A new study looks at how female versus male rats fared after suffering a trauma and subsequent hemorrhagic shock who were given Estradiol (estrogen). In the study, published in the September 2010 issue of Shock by Dr. Ed W. Childs and colleagues at Scott & White Healthcare, the 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 Ed W. Childs, M.D., professor of surgery at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, and vice chairman of research in the department of surgery at Scott & White Healthcare.

“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.”

Examples of shock can include: car accident, falls that may include a severe trauma, and any injury that causes bleeding. Shock (level IV) is defined as 40% blood volume loss and a systolic blood pressure under 90.

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