Female hormone may protect women from severe COVID-19-related disease and death
February 18, 2022, 8:59 am

Female hormone may protect women from severe COVID-19-related disease and death

Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) in a press release on Thursday said that the female hormone estrogen may protect women from severe heart disease and death caused by COVID-19 (File photo: Pixabay)

The Xinhua reported, Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) in a press release on Thursday said that the female hormone estrogen may protect women from severe heart disease and death caused by COVID-19.

According to a joint study by HUS, the University of Helsinki, and the University of Umea of Sweden, the estrogen supplement halved the risk of death due to COVID-19 in women.

According to the study, the mortality rate for women receiving the estrogen supplement was 2.1 percent, compared with 4.6 percent for women in the control group.

The study has been published in BMJ Open, a peer-reviewed open-access medical journal.

The study compared the mortality of women diagnosed with COVID-19 disease at the beginning of the pandemic with the effect of estrogen on mortality.

Women with face masks-COVID (File photo: Pixabay) — Women with face masks-COVID-19 (File photo: Pixabay)

According to the Xinhua, the study included around 15,000 women aged 50 to 80 who were diagnosed with COVID-19 related heart disease between February and September 2020. The 2,500 women in the study had estrogen replacement therapy for menopausal symptoms, and about 200 women received estrogen-lowering medication after cancer treatment. There were 12,000 women in the control group who did not receive estrogen-increasing or estrogen-lowering medication.

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The group receiving estrogen-lowering therapy had the highest risk of death. However, a causal relationship to estrogen could not be established as patients in this group were older than the control group and had received cancer treatment. Age and cancer treatments increase the risk of serious heart disease and death caused by COVID-19.

Malin Sund, professor and chief physician at HUS, in the press release, said: "Our study does not yet lead to a change in treatment practices, so estrogen therapy should not be started or estrogen-lowering medication should be discontinued based on this study."

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The Xinhua noted that the study was conducted before COVID-19 vaccines were available. Thus, it is not yet possible to deduce from the study how much estrogen reduces the risk of serious illness and death among vaccinated women, said the release.

Source: xinhua

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

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On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.