Higher oestrogen levels associated to lower risk of dying from COVID

The following is a synopsis of several recent COVID-19 investigations. They contain research that requires additional study to substantiate the findings and has not yet been validated by peer review.

Higher oestrogen levels have been linked to a lower risk of dying from COVID.

A recent study adds to the evidence that the female hormone oestrogen protects against COVID-19 mortality.

Researchers in Sweden studied 14,685 older women with COVID-19 who were all past menopause, when oestrogen levels drop drastically. To alleviate menopausal symptoms, 17% were taking oestrogen pills. After controlling for other risk factors, women who received additional oestrogen had a 53% reduced risk of dying from COVID-19 than untreated women, according to the researchers, who published their findings in BMJ Open on Monday. Observational studies like this one cannot prove that greater oestrogen levels are beneficial. Furthermore, the ladies were infected before immunizations were available, according to Umea University’s Dr. Malin Sund.

“Vaccination has definitely been shown to protect against COVID-19-related mortality, and the possible extra value of oestrogen (in vaccinated women) cannot be evaluated based on this data,” Sund stated. The hypothesis that oestrogen would be protective in COVID-19 hospitalised patients is now being examined more rigorously in a randomised controlled experiment at Tulane University.

Antacid appears to be effective against COVID-19 symptoms.

In a small randomised controlled trial of non-hospitalized, unvaccinated people with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, treatment with a high dose of the antacid medication famotidine aided in the remission of symptoms and inflammation.

For two weeks, over half of patients in the 55-patient trial received famotidine three times a day, the main ingredient in Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ.N) widely used over-the-counter Pepsid heartburn medicine. The others were given a dummy pill. Patients in the famotidine group experienced faster clearance of 14 of the 16 symptoms evaluated in the trial, including loss of smell and taste, trouble breathing, and abdominal pain.