The number of female athletes is growing and these women are more susceptible than men to knee injuries because of their skeletal structure, according to Dr. Peter Simonian of the Sports Medicine Center at University of Washington, Seattle. In the Sept./Oct. 1999 issue of Spa, Dr. Simonian states that women are more knock-kneed than men, putting them at a higher risk for ligament tears. Estrogen levels may also be to blame, causing a looseness in muscular tissues. Further putting a woman at risk over men is her slower neuromuscular reflex, which means slower compensation in protective knee and thigh muscles.