According to a recent assessment, women are noticeably more likely than males to develop COVID-19’s chronic symptoms. Data from trials involving 1.3 million patients were examined by specialists from the Office of the Chief Medical Officer for Women’s Health at Johnson & Johnson.
According to research published on Tuesday with in journal Current Medical Research and Opinion, women were 22 % more likely than men to experience prolonged COVID. The scientists said in a press release that understanding the core sex distinctions of COVID-19 is “crucial for the identification… of successful treatments and Integrated public health activities of and sensitive to the potential differing treatment needs of different genders.”
Long COVID is when a patient recover but has symptoms that last longer than a month after recovering from the sickness. These signs can occasionally persist for months or even years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, patients may continue to experience a range of residual symptoms, including tiredness, breathing problems, headaches, joint, cognitive fog and muscle pain, and ongoing loss of smell and taste.
It is unknown what causes protracted COVID, although there are a variety of suggestions among specialists, including the persistence of the virus in body, the virus’s impact on neural pathways, and the immunity system’s continued activity after infection.
According to the study, the symptoms that women experienced most frequently within four weeks after testing positive were ENT problems, aches and pains in their muscles, shortness of breath, and mood disorders including sadness. Men were also more likely to experience acute kidney damage and other renal diseases.
Females and males experienced varied symptoms during and after COVID-19, as well as after the formation of a lengthy COVID. Long-term symptoms such tiredness, gastrointestinal, ENT, neurological, skin, and mood issues were more prevalent in women.
Women were 60% likely to experience gastrointestinal problems and at least twice as likely to get ENT long-term effects. Men, on the other hand, had greater incidences of endocrine illnesses, such as, renal abnormalities and diabetes.
Past research has examined sex-specific variations in ICU admission, hospitalisation, and mortality from COVID-19. However, just 35 of the more than 600,000 articles included in this analysis, which were published during December 2019 to June 2021, had sufficient information regarding COVID-19 symptoms and consequences to understand how males and females may experience the disease differently.
They stated that “unfortunately, most studies did not examine or report granular data by sex, which reduced sex-specific clinical insights that may be influencing therapy.” Women are more likely than males to contract lengthy COVID for unknown reasons, although the authors speculated that it may be because of variations in how women’s immune systems react to infection.
Females “build more quick and strong acute and adoptive immune systems, which can protect them against incubation periods and intensity,” the authors stated. Females may be more susceptible to chronic autoimmune-related disorders as a result of this discrepancy, though.
The scientists also suggested that women may be more susceptible to COVID-19 since many females work in fields like nursing and teaching, which may increase their chance of developing lengthy COVID.
Additionally, the authors noted in the release that “there may be differences in access to care depending on gender that might impact the biological symptoms of the illness, contributing to higher problems and [lasting effects].”
In order to better understand how differently men and women are impacted and whether different therapies are required, the team said it hopes other researchers would include precise data regarding COVID-19 symptoms and effects split down by sex in their studies.
Carolyn is a technology graduate and loves to write about anything related to technology as well as writes in others sectors. Carolyn is a professional writer with over 7 years of experience. Initially starting off as a programmer, Carolyn decided to combine her knowledge about technology and writing and that’s how she joined Reporter Expert.