More men than women?

[Gruffaloandmouse]

Seem to be getting severely ill?

Read an article in the guardian by an ICU consultant and he seemed to say it was 70% men and 30% women in the beds.
I wonder why?

I think men are statistically more likely to be overweight and have health conditions?

I also think more men catch it because they are generally less hygienic than women - sorry!

Oestrogen might have a protective effect

Men get more respiratory conditions in general, eg influenza, not just covid. I wonder if it's something to do with greater vo2max, some anatomical difference (am not a biologist).

Ratio of those in critical care with covid is about 2 male:1 female IIRC.
Or maybe that's the stat just after you adjust for the fact that among over 80s, about 67% of the population is female.

it's the estrogen, which however is also linked to long covid.

This has been the case since the very start of the pandemic. Men are more vulnerable to covid then women.

@fallfallfall

it's the estrogen, which however is also linked to long covid.

Do you have a link at all, I'd be interested to find out more?

Long Covid sufferer altho pretty much recovered now, but still have some lung issues. I'm on HRT.

Higher rates of smoking, obesity etc.

Possibly we are more resilient to it for other reasons, don't know about that though.

We live longer for a mix of reasons I'd guess it's similar mechanisms.

Women are biologically much tougher than men. I’m not sure why? Could be hormones as someone said.

Man flu, innit?

Need I say any more?!

Few theories.

1. Different immune systems due to XX/XY chromosomes. (It’s why men suffer more with flu and why the term man flu was coined.)
2. Oestrogen
3. Potential protection from the rubella jab most women have as teenagers

Females are more resistant to most diseases so this may be another case of that, better immune system.

Could it also be that more men are going out to work/working so more men catching it?

Sex based differences in the immune system are thought to play a part.

@JumboShiitake, the info is not new so articles in newspapers/online from october. based on uk info from kings college.

Aren’t females biologically more resistant to illness because they have the babies and nature is trying to keep the next generation alive?

Nature comes with a lot of wastage so I think it's more complex than that. Children with fathers historically were also more likely to survive than children without, so it's not that men are exactly redundant in child rearing.

There is a TV show about this on Channel 4 Tuesday night (are women the fitter sex).

Hygiene

Another vote for the hygiene hypothesis. Men are grim.
They also take less care of their own health, in terms of diet etc.

More men are overweight and drink too much, don't look after themselves, don't go to the GP and don't practise good personal hygiene.

I think the estrogen argument may be moot as once past menopause, women's estrogen levels drop right down to male levels. Unless they're on HRT, of course. Would be interesting to find out, certainly, for women who have died.

I do think it's a complex issue. A lot of autoimmune diseases have a strong female bias (not all, though). Autoimmune hypothyroidism is predominantly a female thing.

We typically get respiratory illnesses at a higher rate when women, we’re also more likely to have a more severe case.

In the flu season more men are hospitalised than women, I don’t know if this is still the case but there was a study a few years ago (by which I mean about ten as I read it when a friend was at university) that showed that men acquire pneumonia during hospital stays at a higher rate than women.

I know several people who have had Covid and this includes several YOUNG very fit men who ended up in hospital very ill. Yet I have serious under lying health conditions and whilst it wasn’t fun, bounced back fine after about a week at home feeling rough. There has to be something in it?
I also take vitamin D, do less men take supplements etc perhaps? Just a musing, no scientific knowledge at all!

Apparently, having two X chromosomes means women have more robust immune systems so are more able to fight off all sorts of infections. It also means we're more susceptible to autoimmune conditions though.

I don't think it can be explained by increased exposure of men, as look at the sex of the majority of nurses, careworkers, teachers? It must be biological as others have suggested. Also not convinced about hygiene as it's mostly airborne transmission.