Covid-19 Reduces Male Sex Hormone Levels Leading to More Deaths Among Men, Study Suggests

A new study has linked more men dying of Covid-19 globally than women to the ability of SARS-CoV-2 in depleting testosterone levels in the body.

Initially the lower testosterone levels in the Covid-19 patients were associated with poor health condition, however a new study shows that it may be viral infection that is causing the level of male sex hormone to decrease, a report in The Print said.

“For the first time, our data suggest that Covid-19 might deteriorate serum testosterone level in SARS-CoV-2 infected male patients. Low serum total testosterone level at baseline has a significant increased risk for the ICU and mortality in patients with Covid-19,” researchers from University of Mersin, and the Mersin City Education and Research Hospital in Turkey, reported in The Aging Male journal.

Testosterone is the male sex hormone and decreases on an average by 0.8-2 percent a year after 40 years. The fact could be comprehended behind the outcome of coronavirus in older patients.

The study published earlier this month selected a sample of 438 patients, and 232 of them were men. “Future studies related to testosterone treatment in this population would discover possible improvement in clinical outcomes with the testosterone treatment in SARS-CoV-2 infected hypogonadal male patients,” the study added.

“Testosterone is associated with the immune system of respiratory organs, and low levels of testosterone might increase the risk of respiratory infections,” says Selahittin Çayan, professor of urology, who contributed to the study.

“Low testosterone is also associated with infection-related hospitalisation and all-cause mortality in male in ICU patients. So testosterone treatment may also have benefits beyond improving outcomes for Covid-19,” the professor added.

In India, the deaths among Covid-19 patients have mostly been among men, with reports indicating it at 69 per cent. It also noted that the severity of the Covid-19 was higher when the testosterone decreased. It noted that the testosterone level in the ICU patient were lower that the patients in the intermediate ICU level.