A new study seems to suggest why more men than women are contracting coronavirus and having a harder time coping with COVID-19 symptoms according to Reuters.
Research published Monday in European Heart Journal finds that men’s blood has higher levels of an enzyme called ACE2 that the virus uses to infect new cells. “When we found that one of the strongest biomarkers, ACE2, was much higher in men than in women, I realized that this had the potential to explain why men were more likely to die from COVID-19 than women,” says study co-author Iziah Sama.
The study also found that ACE inhibitors, commonly prescribed for heart problems and high blood pressure, did not lead to higher ACE2 concentrations and should therefore not increase the COVID-19 risk for people taking them.