New clue about why Covid is deadlier for men: Estrogen may play a protective role

Women who received hormone replacement therapy after getting Covid had a 78 percent lower overall mortality rate than women who didn't take estrogen, a study found.

But experts say it makes sense that estrogen could play a protective role against Covid, since the hormone is known to stimulate an immune response through the production of antibodies. At the same time, higher levels of estrogen can keep the immune system from responding overly aggressively to a viral infection, which can lead to life-threatening inflammation.

"We see in women, they have a faster and higher antibody response ... to Covid infection, which probably means that they can clear the infection quicker than the men," said Dr. Christopher Wilcox, a co-author of the new study and an academic clinical fellow at the University of Southampton. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/estrogens by-may-play-role-covid-less-deadly-women-rcna29287

More in depth-

More in-depth gov studies

The role of estradiol in the immune response against Covid-19

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34142358/