Little attention to health and lack of hormonal protection contribute to exposing the male sex to greater risks. But other factors also matter
In Italy: 57% of people who died from Covid are men . But why do men die more often than Covid?
“First of all, let’s think about infections – replies Fabrizio Pregliasco, virologist at the University of Milan – The cause must be sought in social factors: men still work outside the home more than women and therefore have more potentially risky contacts.
They are less attentive to personal hygiene; still have a tendency to smoke more compared to women (in the population over 15 years of age, male smokers are 25.9%, females 15.8%) and smoking represents a risk factor for contracting the disease and also for developing a more serious clinical picture . And women have cardiovascular disease at least 10 years later than men, thanks to the protection provided to them by estrogen at least until menopause and even for decades to follow.
So in the case of Covid, up to the age of 50-60, they are better protected from dangerous consequences “. And what’s more, women, as we know, are traditionally more health conscious and they are vaccinated more than men, 55% of vaccines were in fact used by women this summer.
The immune response
But men and women also differ in another way: the former develop greater immune responses to pathogens, including viruses, which is why they are less susceptible to microorganism infections. And according to EpiCentro data, men and women also respond differently to vaccinationsi: women develop more intense responses, with antibody titers often double that of men.
What are these differences due to? The virus responsible for Covid-19 – always reads on the Epicenter site – penetrates into our cells by binding to the ACE2 receptor (Angiotensin Conversion Enzyme), an enzyme that regulates arterial vasoconstriction and is found on the cells of the lung epithelium where it protects the lung from damage caused from infections, inflammation and stress. When the virus binds to ACE2 it decreases its expression and removes it from its protective function. In women of childbearing age, estrogens are able to increase the presence of the ACE2 receptor; in men, androgens appear to play an opposite role to protecting lung tissue.
November 8, 2021 (change November 8, 2021 | 13:37)
© Time.News