Several studies have claimed that men are at higher risk of contracting severe coronavirus infection than women. In a recent study, it is found that this severity might be linked with low testosterone levels in men.
The Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, Missouri has established a link between Covid19 and testosterone level in individuals, indicating that lew testosterone levels might be responsible for high disease risk among males.
However, the study has not found a direct correlation, men with low levels of testosterone in the blood were at the highest risk of going on a ventilator, needing intensive care or dying.
“Abhinav Diwan, a professor at the University said, “During the pandemic, there has been a prevailing notion that testosterone is bad. But we found the opposite in men. If a man had low testosterone when he first came to the hospital, his risk of having severe Covid19... meaning his risk of requiring intensive care or dying was much higher compared with men who had more circulating testosterone.”
Also Read: Global COVID death toll likely 2 to 3 times higher than reported, majorly from India: WHO report
“And if testosterone levels dropped further during hospitalization, the risk increased,” he added.
For research, the practitioners measured several hormones in blood samples from 152 Covid positive people or people with covid-like symptoms, 90 men and 62 women. Of these 143 were hospitalized and their hormonal levels were measured at the time of arrival and after intervals of some days.
Of 90 men, 84 were hospitalized and of these 66 had a severe infection. Around 37 patients died and of these 25 were men.
“Men who required ICU admission or artificial ventilation or who died had lower testosterone concentration than men who did not have these outcomes,” the research concluded.
In addition, obesity, metabolic syndrome and many chronic illness, such as type 2 diabetes, renal insufficiency and chronic lung disease are associated with lower serum testosterone concentrations in men,” the study added.