Men with lower levels of testosterone who become infected with coronavirus are more likely to die from it, a German study has found.
The study of 45 Covid-19 patients admitted to intensive care wards revealed that testosterone could play a key role. But clinicians have been unable to determine why it is the case.
Testosterone helps regulate the body’s immune response, but when a man has too low a level, it can stop working effectively following an infection.
This process, known as a cytokine storm, happens when the immune system starts to go out of control as it tries to kill the pathogen.