
The new coronavirus appears to take a greater toll on men than on women - _bxg1
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/10/831883664/the-new-coronavirus-appears-to-take-a-greater-toll-on-men-than-on-women
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carlmr
I'm not sure why age isn't mentioned here. I think the average age in Italy
was something around 80. Men usually have shorter expected life spans, so this
might confound the issue.

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toyg
In UK the split of deaths is 2/1/1/1 between over75/65/55/45 - all other demos
account for barely 1.5% at the moment. So yeah, age is a big factor. The
problem is that age affects triaging procedures too: in situations of care-
scarcity, younger folks and women are more likely to be prioritised for
treatment. So it’s hard to determine whether the distribution is entirely due
to the virus or skewed by our response.

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jdc
Does anyone know if this this is generally the case with influenza also?

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arcticbull
The data is closer to 50-50 there although my understanding is that women
overwhelmingly look after the sick men and are disproportionately exposed so
those numbers aren’t directly comparable.

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huffmsa
I read (unqualified) ACE2 expression is X chromosome linked, and that men's
single X means they've only got 1 type of ACE2 receptors => single point of
failure.

Men(particularly in Italy) are more likely to smoke and work jobs where there
encounter lung irritants (pollution, dust, other chemicals), meaning they're
starting with more damaged lungs than equivalent women.

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huffmsa
A different bit of research [1] says this isn't necessarily a respiratory
illness, but one that attacks the red blood cells, blocking their ability to
transfer O2, and causing free iron to spike in the body.

The body ultimately binds into storage in the alveoli, but at too high of a
rate, causing that glassy lung imaging.

Women typically have lower blood iron levels than men, so once again are
starting from a "safer" level.

[1]
[https://chemrxiv.org/articles/COVID-19_Disease_ORF8_and_Surf...](https://chemrxiv.org/articles/COVID-19_Disease_ORF8_and_Surface_Glycoprotein_Inhibit_Heme_Metabolism_by_Binding_to_Porphyrin/11938173)

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anon_coward_1
So men have perhaps twice the rate of infection and death than women. One
thing I can't understand is why there has been no government advice about
this. I would have thought it would be sensible advice that if a man and a
women are in isolation together, the woman should go shopping rather than the
man, especially as usually the man is older in a marriage. I would have
thought that this simple change could save many many lives, so I wonder why no
government has suggested it?

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aaron695
Because he will just get it off her.

Neither should go shopping.

(If they have to go shopping then you'd look at who follows protocols better,
women seem better at washing hands but may know more people shopping but don't
shake hands)

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anon_coward_1
Unfortunately my elderly parents (UK) are in a position where they can't get
shopping delivered, there are no delivery slots at any of the supermarkets.
I'm looking at sending food over in a taxi but it's really expensive!

While it's likely he will catch it from her, it's by no means a guarantee.

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Kinrany
> While it's likely he will catch it from her, it's by no means a guarantee.

Unless they also isolate from each other, common sense suggests it is.

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_bxg1
I have to wonder if they controlled at all for heart disease. That seems like
it would be a strong bridging factor.

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arcticbull
I learned today that this is true of most viruses. The flu appears 50-50 but
women tend to look after infected men, and so are exposed disproportionately.

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Legogris
Shouldn't that yield the inverse effect?

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NicoJuicy
No, the 50-50 is including that behaviour. So men are infected easier, but
women are more exposed.

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Legogris
Ah, that makes sense; I read GPs phrase the other way.

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DeathArrow
So biology employs discrimination.

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arcticbull
Makes sense to me, biology doesn’t follow social mores.

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econcon
So it's killing men at twice the rate of women.

Wonder if it's because women have been selected for better immune system as
their body has to also protect the offspring and men's system only has to
protect himself.

Maybe immune response of a pregnant woman is same as immune response of a man?

A lot of my friends were increasing their testosterone to 1000ng/dL through
exogenous hormones, so some did develop minor heart issues.

I am also on Nanandrolene for very long now but I don't have any issue.

No idea what effect it will have on Coronavirus.

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DeathArrow
I've read that much of the immune system it's encoded in X chromosome and
women have 2 X chromosomes.

