Table of contents:

Women have stronger immune systems
Female hormones protect against severe COVID-19
Post-menopausal women are more severely affected by COVID-19
Female hormones and their beneficial effects
Researchers' conclusions in the fight against COVID-19

Women undergo COVID-19 much more lightly than men. Scientists decided to take a closer look at this phenomenon - their research suggests that the body's immune response to the infection, which is different in women than in men, may be responsible for this.

Women have a stronger immune system

According to the researchers, women and men develop two types of immune response to COVID-19. Studies have shown that women produce a stronger immune response involving T lymphocytes, which are a type of white blood cell responsible for recognising and destroying viruses.

Female hormones protect against the severity of COVID-19

Scientists speculate that female sex hormones, such as oestrogens (oestradiol, oestrone, oestriol) and progesterone, protect women from severe COVID-19. These compounds have anti-inflammatory properties, stimulate the production of antibodies and promote the repair of airway epithelial cells. In addition, they inhibit the ACE2 receptor, which helps coronavirus to enter cells.

Female sex hormones may also contribute to blocking the excessive, uncontrolled response of the immune system to infection by protecting against inflammatory cytokines, an immune response in which the body begins to destroy its own cells and tissues in addition to fighting the virus.

Researchers in the study noted that in several pregnant women who were infected with COVID-19, mild symptoms of infection persisted until delivery, then the patients' condition worsened. This mechanism was linked to the decrease in estriadol, progesterone and allopregnanolone levels that occurs after birth.

Postmenopausal women suffer more severely from COVID-19

In the UK, it has been observed that women who have gone through the menopause have more severe COVID-19 symptoms than menstruating women. This indicates that oestrogen levels are protective against COVID-19, and that after the menopause the concentration of this hormone decreases significantly.

Hormones and the course of COVID-19, photo: panthermedia

A study is being conducted in the USA to confirm whether the administration of, among other things, progesterone and estriadol to men and older women can alleviate the course of COVID-19.

Female hormones and their beneficial effects

It has long been known that female hormones, when normal, have a beneficial effect on all systems - increasing the blood supply to the heart, brain and other organs, among others. Diseases run less easily when a woman has a normal hormonal cycle with normal levels of oestrogen and progesterone.

Researchers' conclusions in the fight against COVID-19

The research conducted has produced scientific evidence that significantly helps to explain why young women are more protected than men and older women from a severe course of COVID-19. The older a woman is, the less sex hormones her body produces. After a certain period of time, the oestrogenic protection is lost, which may have an impact on the course of COVID-19 symptoms.

According to experts, undergoing hormone replacement therapy or taking hormonal contraceptives may play a role in protecting against coronavirus at an older age. Also important is diet and a diet enriched with phytoestrogens, which are natural estrogens of plant origin. Soya and lentils, among others, contain them.

way4cure.com

Women take COVID-19 more lightly - it's because of hormones

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