According to new research, bald men with Covid-19 may be at higher risk for severe symptoms.
The lead author of the study is so confident with the findings of his team that he said, “We really think that baldness is a perfect predictor of gravity. “
Professor Carlos Wambier, of Brown University in the United States, conducted two studies in Spain which found that a disproportionately large number of men with male pattern baldness were transported to hospital with a coronavirus, reported the Daily Telegraph.
Of the 41 patients infected with the virus examined in Spanish hospitals, 71% were bald, according to the first study.
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This compares to the average balding rate for white men of similar age to patients – which is between 31 and 53 percent.
The second study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, found that 79% of the 122 male coronavirus patients in Madrid hospitals were bald.
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According to some scientists, adrogens – male sex hormones – can contribute to hair loss and increase the ability of the virus to attack cells.
This means that anti-hormonal drugs could potentially be used to slow its progression and give patients time to recover.
Professor Wambier told the Telegraph: “We believe that androgens or male hormones are definitely the gateway to the virus in our cells. “
Others, however, urged caution, Karen Stalbow, policy officer for Prostate Cancer UK, told the newspaper “that much more evidence is needed” before these drugs can be used to treat coronaviruses.
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