The reason a significantly higher proportion of men die from COVID-19 than women, even though both genders are being infected with the virus at similar rates, may be that mast cells from females can initiate a more active immune response which may help them fight off infectious diseases better than men, according to an article in the World Economic Forum on Tuesday.
Michigan State University Professor Adam Moeser, an immunologist who is an expert on mast cells and who wrote the WEC article, explains that these cells “play a pivotal role in our immune systems as they act as first responders to pathogens and orchestrate immune responses that help clear the invading pathogens.”
He said that although research shows female mast cells have a more active immune response, evidence indicates that the trade-off may be that women are at higher risk for allergic and inflammatory diseases.
Moeser said that the more robust immune response in women could be a result of genetic factors or sex hormones, such as estrogen and testosterone.
He also pointed out that while COVID-19 highlights the importance of gender in disease risk, sex biases in disease in general are not a new concept.
Several reasons males may generally be at increased risk for severe disease are that, on average, they smoke and drink more, wash their hands less often and frequently delay going for medical care more than women.
Moeser said that more research that differentiates between males and females is needed to find out more about the subject.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.