Study Shows Testicles May Increase Coronavirus Risk In Men
A new study is showing that the coronavirus could linger in the testicles, making men more susceptible to more severe cases of the novel virus.
After conducting a preliminary study on the recovery of 68 patients, both male and female, in Mumbai, India, results showed that the virus took a worse toll on men versus their female counterparts.
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Researches Dr. Aditi Shastri, an oncologist at Bronx’s Montefiore Medical Center, and her mother Dr. Jayanthi Shastri, a microbiologist at Mumbai’s Kasturba Hospital for Infectious Diseases, say the virus attaches itself to high-level protein in the testicles. The protein, known as angiotensin which converts to enzyme 2 or ACE2, is also present in the lungs, gastrointestinal tract and heart — thus showing a higher amount in men and making them more vulnerable to the virus.
Furthermore, the study shows that since the testicles do not have a passageway to the immune system, the virus is able to set up shop and linger for longer periods than the rest of the body; which motivates researchers to believe why women make faster recoveries than men.
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While this study may introduce a helping theory in determining the risk and severity of the virus in males, other researchers believe men are more susceptible as they most are more likely to smoke, have high blood pressure or suffer form coronary artery disease.