Men are hospitalized with COVID-19 much more than women, and male hormones may explain why
Since the first reports from Wuhan, China, on the new coronavirus, researchers in several countries have noted that a much higher proportion of men than women get seriously ill and die from the disease. "Now, scientists investigating how the virus does its deadly work have zeroed in on a possible reason: Androgens — male hormones such as testosterone — appear to boost the virus' ability to get inside cells," Science Magazine reports. Two small studies from Spain have also found a correlation between COVID-19 hospitalizations and male-pattern baldness, linked to the powerful androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT).
Researchers in Italy and New York examined prostate cancer patients and found that those on androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT), which sharply reduces the amount of testosterone, were much less likely to contract COVID-19 or be hospitalized with the disease than prostate cancer patients not on ADT.
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