Why COVID-19 is More Dangerous for Men than Women

Why COVID-19 is worse for men? Is it biological? Cultural? Lifestyle? Or some combination of all three?

Is COVID-19 made for men? Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic only months ago, scientists have observed that the disease tends to be more severe among the elderly, those with weaker immune systems, and those with underlying conditions.

But as more data came in, it became apparent that this COVID-19 pandemic disease also posed a greater risk to men than women.

Why is that? Is it biological? Cultural? Lifestyle? Or some combination of all three?

A Combination of Factors

Based on the limited data available, researchers believe that COVID-19 pandemic is more dangerous for men partly because of their biological susceptibility to cardiovascular issues.

When it comes to culture and lifestyle, men tend to drink and smoke more in many cultures.

In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) found that men were 5 times more likely to smoke and over 5 times more likely to drink.

Both these habits can lead to lung and heart issues.

Underlying Conditions

Over time, poor lifestyle habits tend to lead to hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, and/or obesity. These are all underlying factors that can cause more severe COVID-19 outcomes.

Of course, there are also outliers that are currently unexplained.

Statistically, young people and children seem to fare better, but this doesn’t mean that certain young, healthy individuals won’t experience severe symptoms.

It’s a statistical probability and scientists aren’t sure why some people in low risk groups develop serious cases of the disease.

Further, given the number of people who are asymptomatic or experience mild symptoms, it’s impossible to know exactly how many people this disease has affected.

So Many Unknowns

It is unsettling to have so many unknowns. But unfortunately, given inadequate testing, we need to take any early statistics about mortality rates and disease severity with a grain of salt for now.

Clarity will come over time as data accumulates.