Coronavirus: bad news for men with low testosterone

Compared with men with stable testosterone levels, men with low testosterone levels were 2.4 times more likely to be hospitalized with severe symptoms of coronavirus.

However, if they receive hormone replacement therapy, patients recover faster. This discovery is added to a list of other symptoms and pre-existing conditions associated with COVID, including decreased sexual activity, depressed mood, irritability, difficulty concentrating and remembering, loss of muscle strength, and a general deterioration in well-being.

The authors of the study argue that men with low testosterone levels must take its supplements to protect themselves from serious infection with the virus. Scientists from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis add that preventing severe forms of the disease will reduce the burden on hospitals during new waves of COVID-19.

“COVID-19 hospitalizations are and will continue to be a problem as the virus continues to mutate. Low testosterone levels are very common. It affects up to a third of men over 30 years old. Our study draws attention to this important risk factor and the need to consider it as a strategy to reduce hospitalizations,” said author Abhinav Diwan, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Washington (Πανεπιστήμιο της Ουάσιγκτον) in a press release.

Divan’s study confirms previous findings by scientists and suggests that men hospitalized with COVID-19 had abnormally low testosterone levels.

However, previous research was limited because a severe covid or any other major injury could itself cause a temporary drop in hormone levels. It was unclear what was the cause and what was the effect. To find out, it was JAMA Network study openthe results of which were supposed to answer the question of whether men with chronically low testosterone levels get covid more often than patients with normal hormone levels.

The study was conducted on 723 men between January 2017 and December 2021 who had COVID-19 in 2020 or 2021. The results show that 427 patients had normal testosterone levels, 116 had low levels, and 180 previously had low levels but underwent hormone replacement therapy and returned the hormone levels to normal.

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