Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine have found that men who have testosterone levels and have been infected with Covid-19 are more likely to require hospitalisations than those with normal levels. As many as 723 individuals who tested positive for Covid-19, largely in 2020 before vaccinations were available, were studied in the study. The data show that low testosterone, like diabetes, heart disease, and chronic lung disease, is an independent risk factor for Covid-19 hospitalisation.
The researchers discovered that men with low testosterone and have been infected with Covid were 2.4 times more likely to need hospitalisation than Covid-19-positive men with hormone levels within the normal range. Additionally, men whose testosterone levels had historically tested within the normal range but who had undergone successful hormone replacement therapy were not any more likely to be hospitalised for Covid-19 than were men whose testosterone levels had consistently tested within the normal range.
The findings were published on 2 September in JAMA Network Open. They have indicated that men can be protected from serious Covid-19 related illnesses if they are treated for their low testosterone. This could also lesses the strain on the hospitals during the Covid-19 waves.
“Covid-19 hospitalizations are still an issue and will be a concern since the virus keeps mutating new forms that bypass immunity based on vaccination. Up to one-third of males over 30 have low testosterone, which is a relatively prevalent condition. Our research highlights the significance of this risk factor and the necessity of addressing it as a means of reducing hospitalizations,” co-senior author and Washington University professor of medicine Abhinav Diwan said.
Sandeep Dhindsa, an endocrinologist at Saint Louis University, and Abhinav Diwan have previously demonstrated that men hospitalised with Covid-19 have abnormally low testosterone levels.
Fo the study, the authors located 723 men who reported Covid-19 cases in 2020 or 2021 and testosterone levels measured between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2021. The testosterone levels are checked after a patient recovers from Covid. Men who reported low testosterone levels a few months after their recovery likely had low testosterone levels earlier as well, according to Sandeep Dhindsa.
The study found that 427 men with normal testosterone levels, 116 with low levels, and 180 who had previously had low levels but were successfully treated. These men were receiving hormone replacement therapy, and their testosterone levels were within the normal range at the time they developed Covid-19.
Therapy, however, reduced the risk of hospitalisation for the men with low testosterone. “Below 200 nanograms per deciliter, where the typical range is 300 to 1,000 nanograms per deciliter, the risk dramatically increases. Age, obesity, and other health issues that we looked at as risk factors have no bearing on this. However, the risk for those receiving therapy is as usual,” he said.
(With agency inputs)
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