Risk for dying reduced for postmenopausal women receiving hormone replacement therapy, with increased estrogen levels<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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TUESDAY, Feb. 15, 2022 (HealthDay News) — For postmenopausal women, estrogen supplementation is associated with a reduced risk for dying from COVID-19, according to a study published online Feb. 14 in BMJ Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n Malin Sund, M.D., Ph.D., from the Ume \u00a5 University Faculty of Medicine in Sweden, and colleagues conducted a nationwide registry-based study in Sweden involving individuals who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 to examine whether augmentation of estrogen reduces the risk for death for postmenopausal women. Data were included for 14,685 women aged 50 to 80 years: 227 with previously diagnosed breast cancer receiving endocrine therapy (decreased systemic estrogen levels: group 1); 2,535 receiving hormone replacement therapy (increased systemic estrogen levels: group 2); and 11,923 women in a control group (postmenopausal estrogen levels).<\/p>\n The researchers found that the odds ratios for death following COVID-19 were 2.35 and 0.45 for groups 1 and 2, respectively, in unadjusted analyses. After adjustment, the odds ratio for death only remained significant for group 2 (odds ratio, 0.47). The absolute risk for death was 4.6, 10.1, and 2.1 percent for the control group and groups 1 and 2, respectively. Significant associations were seen for the risk for death due to COVID-19 with age (odds ratio, 1.15), annual income (odds ratios, 2.79, 2.43, and 1.63 for poorest, poor, and middle, respectively), education (primary, 1.4), and the weighted Charlson Comorbidity Index (1.13).<\/p>\n “Drugs increasing estrogen levels may have a role in therapeutic efforts to alleviate COVID-19 severity in postmenopausal women and could be studied in randomized control trials,” the authors write.<\/p>\n