Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, health experts have noted specific groups of people are more vulnerable to catching SARS-CoV-2 as well as developing a more severe form of it. For example, men with coronavirus tend to experience much more complications of the virus in comparison with women.
Overall, the groups with the highest risk include people with existent medical conditions such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease, those with lowered immunity, and older adults over the age of fifty.
However, even in the aforementioned groups, men are more likely to have a severe form of coronavirus infection. Till now, scientists have been unable to explain the exact cause of why this happens but some research has linked the higher probability of severe COVID-19 in male patients with the levels of testosterone hormone in their body.
Now, there are different reports of male patients having reduced levels of the hormone in their bodies even after recovery.
One of such reports, which appears in the journal The Aging Male, also shows that most of the men’s’ testosterone levels dropped severely during the infection.
High reductions in the hormone levels were also noted to have a direct relationship with the severity of the infection. More precisely, it was noted that the lower a patient’s testosterone levels, the higher his chances of being shifted to the Intensive Care Unit due to complications of the coronavirus.
A number of scientists have accentuated the role of testosterone in the development of severe coronavirus infection but none of the previous or recent studies show that it is the virus that is responsible for lowering the hormone levels in the body of the patient.
Instead, studies show that the drop in testosterone levels in people with coronavirus is also commonly seen during the onset of other diseases and infections.
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Usually, the drop is associated with the body’s way of getting more energy as the hormone is a part of processes that require a lot of energy including building muscles and strength.
In addition to these observations, the scientists have also noted that reductions of the testosterone hormone in the body of men may be one of the primary reasons why they are more likely to have severe coronavirus complications and almost twice the risk of death.
This is because the hormone is typically linked to better immune response and anti-inflammatory activity. Therefore, a lack of it can result in higher levels of inflammation and severe coronavirus infection.
At the moment, the researchers of the study agree that further investigation is required to know more about the relationship between testosterone hormone and coronavirus infection.
In the meantime, doctors and health professionals can, on the basis of the findings of the study, examine the levels of testosterone in men with coronavirus in order to create more effective treatment plans and cutting down the risk of death especially in cases of severe coronavirus infection.
