Why are men more prone to COVID infections?
Epidemic
Infection with the Noble Coronavirus affects people of all genders and age groups. But in the last six months, the number of people infected with the virus worldwide has shown that men are most at risk. About 7.5 million people have been infected with the coronavirus since December 2019. Of these, 3.9 million have recovered after treatment and four million have lost their lives. Of those infected, 82 percent are men and only 18 percent are women.
Although the statistics of different countries have been analyzed differently, men are more infected in each country. About 70.3 percent of those infected in Chinese hospitals are men. In the United States, 60.7 percent of infected people admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in New York City are men, and 67 percent of those who die are men. Eighty-two percent of those admitted to the intensive care unit in Lombardy, Italy, were men. Similarly, 69 percent of infected men in the UK and 79 percent in Spain. At the time of writing, 4,364 cases of infection have been confirmed in Nepal, of which 4,055 (92.91 percent) are men. Of those infected, 11.95 percent are men. 26.95 percent of the infected are women are free of infection. The proportion of infected men and women is 70-30. That is, men are twice as likely to be infected as women.
Of course, in Nepal, men spend more time out of the house than women, go abroad for employment, drink more alcohol, and smoke, so they may have more infections. However, as more men than women are infected worldwide, the search for biological causes has begun. This article will discuss the same biological causes.
The determination of whether a person is born a boy or a girl is made in the first stage of fetal development in the mother's womb. In the process of reproduction, the fetus is formed by the union of the sex chromosomes of the mother and father. The father has X and Y sex chromosomes, while the mother has both X chromosomes. If the father's Y and mother's X chromosomes match, a son is born. If the X chromosomes of both father and mother combine to form an embryo, a daughter is born. Therefore, the role of the chromosome of the father, not the mother, plays a role in determining the sex of the child born.
Professor of Immunology at the University of Oxford, Dr. According to Philip Goulder, the difference between men's and women's ability to fight disease begins here.
It is the job of the immune system to detect and produce antibodies that are needed to detect and resist any foreign harmful bacteria. The noble coronavirus is encoded in a recognizable protein X chromosome. But X chromosomes are two in females and only one in males. Therefore, the ability to prevent corona infection or the resistance expressed by the protein is automatically reduced by 50 percent in men. Dr. Philip Goulder believes that women have a greater ability to fight not only coronavirus but all diseases than men.
Another factor that differentiates men and women from coronavirus infection is the angiotensin-converting enzyme. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE-2) is a type of enzyme present in the human body. Enzymes are catalysts that accelerate chemical reactions in the body. ACE-2 is a central component of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), which controls blood pressure, heals wounds, and regulates fluids in the body. This enzyme, discovered by Leonard Skags in 1956, indirectly increases blood pressure by constricting blood vessels. Therefore, ACE-2 inhibitors are used in the treatment of most heart diseases.
When the coronavirus infects humans, the virus's protein attaches to the same ACE-2 enzyme and travels to cells in various parts of the body. As a result, it opens the door to infection in the lungs while taking oxygen through the blood and blood vessels. According to an article published in the European Heart Journal, ACE-2 is more common in men than in women. It occurs in large quantities in the lungs, heart, and testicles of men. Because ACE-2 occurs in the testicles, there are more males than females in the testicles. Iziah Sama explains. Similarly, published in the ‘Journal of Virology’. According to Hong Peng Xia's article, ACE-2 has the appearance of being attached to a thorn-shaped protein spike on the surface of the current Nobel coronavirus. Thus, the physical constitution of men has increased the risk of corona infection in men than in women.
According to a recent article in Science News, coronavirus infections in men have been linked to another factor. According to the article, androgen hormones also play an important role in increasing the risk of infection. The androgen hormone helps men to produce the hormone testosterone and make sperm. The same hormone also helps the coronavirus to enter the cell. Men cannot be fertile without the hormone testosterone. Infections in China, Spain, Italy, and the United States have been linked to androgen hormones and coronavirus infections.
The androgenic hormone regulates the transmembrane protease serine 2 enzyme in the male prostate gland. The prostate gland helps men to urinate and keep sperm alive. Therefore, transmembrane protease serine 2 enzyme is produced more in men. ‘Cell Journal’ According to Marcus Hoffmann, published in, coronavirus infection also depends on the surface membrane of the transmembrane protease serine 2 enzyme. The membrane of this enzyme combines the thorny proteins of the virus with the DNA in human cells. Men also have an increased risk of coronavirus infection due to this enzyme.
Italian molecular cancer specialist Dr. According to Andre Alimonti, some of the men who used androgen in some of the experiments there did not have to go to the hospital because of Kovid-19. Thus, the transmembrane protease serine 2 enzyme produced in men during prostate operation and regulation has increased the risk of corona infection in men.
The fact is that men are more at risk of coronavirus infection than women, not only for socio-economic reasons but also for biological reasons.
(Koju, who has a doctorate in zoology, is the head of the Faculty of Natural Resource Management under the Center for Post-Graduate Studies, Nepal Engineering College, Pokhara University.)