Several studies have linked heading soccer balls with an increased risk for brain injury and new research suggests that the danger is even greater for female athletes. In the study, researchers compared brain scans of 49 female and 49 male amateur soccer players who reported a similar number of headings over the previous year (about 470 to 490) and observed far more extensive damage in the brains of the female participants. Study leader Dr. Michael Lipton explains, “Researchers and clinicians have long noticed that women fare worse following head injury than men, but some have said that’s only because women are more willing to report symptoms… Based on our study, which measured objective changes in brain tissue rather than self-reported symptoms, women do seem more likely than men to suffer brain trauma from heading soccer balls.”
Radiology, July 2018