Can Estrogen Be Protective in Women Against Coronavirus?
Watch the video below if you would rather listen vs read this blog post, however, blog post contains links.
A new preliminary study has just been released (March 11, 2020) in “pre-print,” on the possibility of estrogen’s protective benefits against coronavirus for women. This data is so preliminary, since as you know, the Coronavirus has only been around for a few months and there is still a lot more to learn about this virus. But a Chinese study looked at how the virus uses the receptor to get into our cells, in hopes to collect information about who might be more susceptible to the virus and why. Keep in mind, however, since this study has not even yet been peer reviewed, facts regarding this specific study could still change.
We already know that the risks from COVID-19, if contracted, increases as one gets older, and that only mild cases have been seen so far in children. It’s also been shown that the coronavirus may kill more men than women. And as I discussed in my presentation, “Coronavirus Survival Strategy,” it is people with pre-existing health conditions, like diabetes, COPD, obesity, heart and lung conditions and those with weakened immune systems who are at a greater risk of suffering with this virus. This research study also helps explain the reason for this.
How The Virus Gains Access To Our Cells?
If you watched my presentation, “Coronavirus Survival Strategy,” you learned how the virus gains access to our cells. It has been determined that the cell binds to the ACE2 receptor to get into our cells (like a lock and key), and thus, it would seem logical that the more of these receptors a person has, the greater their risk would be from COVID-19, right?
WRONG: This study found that exactly the opposite occurred. The people with the least risk from COVID-19, actually were the ones with the most ACE2 receptors. This is still not understood why having more ACE2 receptors was more protective.
What Age Group and Gender Are At the Most Risk?
Children have more ACE2 receptors and thus, according to this study, would be at a lower risk from COVID-19, and from what we know they are at a lower risk, and perhaps this is one of the reasons.
With age, we have less ACE2 receptors, so as one ages, their risk from COVID-19 is greater.
Men have less ACE2 receptors than women, and as mentioned above, they are at a greater risk from COVID-19.
What Diseases Place People At Greater Risk?
This study showed that fewer ACE2 receptors were in people with Type 2 Diabetes, and thus they were more at risk from COVID-19. Other diseases were not studied in this research, so we still have much to learn.
Is Estrogen Protective Against COVID-19?
This study found more ACE2 receptors in women on estrogen, and thus they determined that estrogen was protective against COVID-19. They also found that there was a slight increase in ACE2 receptors in men who were on testosterone therapy (but not nearly as much as with women). Also, this study found a significantly higher ACE2 receptors when they looked at male to female transgender subjects on estrogen replacement and testosterone blocking drugs).
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Bottom Line:
We already know all of the protective factors of estrogen for protection against heart disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, breast and other cancers. Estrogen has been vindicated (contact me for the research that proves this). We also know that estradiol acts as an antioxidant, which would make it protective again viral threats. We also know that estradiol is known to prevent oxidative damage by 48% in post-menopausal women. And from this study we are discussing here, it would also seem that estradiol will be protective against COVID-19.
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