Combined Oral Contraceptive Pills Offer Protection Against Coronavirus, Study Proves

Higher levels of estrogen could protect women from coronavirus disease. The research team from King's College London studied more than 5,00,000 women for five weeks between May 7 to June 15, 2020. They used data gathered from a UK-wide COVID-19 Symptom Tracker app. 

The symptom tracker app targets how prevalent the deadly disease was. Their subjects were postmenopausal women and younger women who took oral contraceptive pills. They also included older women who took hormone replacement therapy (HRT). 

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(Photo: unsplash/Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition)

Estrogen decreases with old age

It is normal for estrogen, the female sex hormone, to decline in women who had stopped having periods. The decrease in the hormone affects the immune system in many ways. It affects the number of immune cells produced and how they fight infection. 

The study's findings proved that the female hormone could help protect against COVID-19. The research team found that postmenopausal women, aged 45 to 50, had a higher risk of getting ill with the virus. These women said they had symptoms like loss of sense of smell, fever, and persistent cough. They also reported needing oxygen treatment in the hospital. The research team noted that these findings are not enough to link the hormone and the coronavirus. 

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Postmenopausal women aged 50 to 65 who had HRT had a higher risk of getting COVID. What differs is that there is no need for hospitalization. However, the research team noted that data is not enough to prove the link between the female hormone and SARS-CoV-2. They also said that one must consider how the treatment was taken and how long they had HRT. They should also take note of whether the subjects had any illness during the study period. 

The research team found that the youngest group, who took combined oral contraceptive pills (COCP), had a lower risk of developing COVID-19. They were women with an age range of 18 to 45 years. COCP contains small doses of both estrogen and progesterone hormones. These are two hormones that worked the same as those naturally produced by the body. 

They found that women from this group had fewer symptoms. The subjects reported symptoms like a persistent cough, delirium, anosmia, fatigue and pain, loss of appetite, and a lower hospitalization rate. 

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(Photo: unsplash/Brian McGowan)

When the pandemic started, researchers noted that infected men and older adults had a higher number than younger people and women. They combined these data from past epidemics, like SARS (SARS-CoV) and MERS. The researchers explained that estrogen could be protecting younger women against these viruses. It explains why men of all ages and older women have higher risks of getting infected with these deadly diseases. 

While there are some limitations in this study, it can be seen that estrogen affects how the immune system protects the body from the viruses. They still need to be peer-review the study.