Studies of the virus have been conducted in different countries around the world and everyone has come to the same conclusion: Although there is no difference in the verified numbers between women and men, there is a gap to the detriment of men when it comes to corona virus deaths. In the United States, there is a difference of nearly 20 percent in the number of deaths among men compared to women.
A new study conducted in Sweden and published at the BMJ Open, is based on the national health records of over 16,000 women aged 50 to 80 who were positive for Corona between 4.2.2020 and 14.11.2020.
Most of the women in the study went through menopause, a time when the female hormone, estrogen, was declining. The researchers took into account data showing that 17 percent of women take estrogen supplements to relieve menopausal symptoms, about 230 of them have undergone cancer treatments for women who reduce estrogen levels, some suffer from background or age-related illnesses and the socioeconomic data of the subjects.
The researchers concluded that women who took estrogen supplements had a 53 percent lower risk of dying from corona compared to women whose estrogen levels were low and did not take supplements.
Estrogen is essential for the production of immune cells
Observational studies conducted in the past have found an association between high estrogen levels and a reduction in the risk of developing a serious illness as a result of corona. Estrogen is an essential hormone for the immune system which encourages the proliferation of immune cells to produce antibodies that fight infections. It can be seen that in menopausal women where there has been a significant decrease in estrogen, there is also a marked decrease in immune system cells.
“The findings are probably dramatic,” says Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacopidemiology at the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London.