Scientists have pointed to the potential of the female sex hormone progesterone to improve clinical outcome for men hospitalized with severe coronavirus. This conclusion was made by scientists from Los Angeles.
“There was an overall improvement in the mean clinical status on a seven-point scale in patients in the progesterone group compared to control subjects,” said Cedars Sinai Medical Center.
Patients who received progesterone needed additional oxygen 3 days less, and they were discharged 2.5 days earlier than men from the control group.
In this case, hormones can stimulate the immune system. This was confirmed by the experiment of scientists from Johns Hopkins University on mice, during which mice injected with hormones recovered faster from influenza. Other American scientists have confirmed the positive effect of progesterone on patients with coronavirus, explaining that the hormonal drug has an anti-inflammatory effect.
According to the CDC’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, in October 2020, the mortality rate among pregnant women with COVID-19 was 0.16% (44 deaths per 27.6 thousand cases) compared to 2.24 % among the entire female population. At the same time, as Dmitry Yenikeev, professor at the Institute of Urology and Human Reproductive Health at Sechenov University, clarified in an interview with Izvestia, the male hormone testosterone is also capable of protecting against inflammation.
Stanislav Otstavnov, deputy head of the laboratory for analysis of population health indicators and digitalization of healthcare at MIPT, added that the final conclusions are premature, since the number of participants in the study was small. Therapy requires further testing.
Read the details in the exclusive material of Izvestia: Sex of the trouble: the condition of men with severe COVID improves female hormones