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https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/968450
Estrogen Replacement May Reduce COVID-19 Death Risk
Miriam E. Tucker
February 14, 2022
Estrogen supplementation is associated with a reduced risk of death from COVID-19 among postmenopausal women, new research suggests.
The findings, from a nationwide study using data from Sweden, were published online February 14 in BMJ Open by Malin Sund, MD, PhD, of Umeå University Faculty of Medicine, Sweden, and colleagues.
Among postmenopausal women aged 50-80 years with verified COVID-19, those receiving estrogen as part of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopausal symptoms were less than half as likely to die from it than those not receiving estrogen, even after adjustment for confounders.
"This study shows an association between estrogen levels and COVID-19 death. Consequently, 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 investigators write.
However, speaking with Medscape Medical News, coauthor Anne-Marie Fors Connolly, MD, PhD, a resident in clinical microbiology at Umeå University, cautioned: "This is an observational study. Further clinical studies are needed to verify these results before recommending clinicians to consider estrogen supplementation."
...
Data on obesity, a known risk factor for COVID-19 death, weren't reported.
"Obesity would have been a very relevant variable to include. Unfortunately, this information is not present in the nationwide registry data that we used for our study," Connolly told Medscape Medical News.
While the data are observational and can't be used to inform treatment, Connolly pointed to a US randomized clinical trial currently recruiting patients that will investigate the effect of estradiol and progesterone therapy in 120 adults hospitalized with COVID-19.
In the meantime, she warned doctors and patients: "Please do not consider ending antiestrogen treatment following breast cancer — this is a necessary treatment for the cancer."
Evans noted, "There are short-term benefits of menopausal hormone therapy but women should not, based on this or other observational studies, be advised to take HRT for a supposed benefit on death from COVID-19."
BMJ Open. Published online February 14, 2022. Full text
Estrogen Replacement May Reduce COVID-19 Death Risk
Miriam E. Tucker
February 14, 2022
Estrogen supplementation is associated with a reduced risk of death from COVID-19 among postmenopausal women, new research suggests.
The findings, from a nationwide study using data from Sweden, were published online February 14 in BMJ Open by Malin Sund, MD, PhD, of Umeå University Faculty of Medicine, Sweden, and colleagues.
Among postmenopausal women aged 50-80 years with verified COVID-19, those receiving estrogen as part of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopausal symptoms were less than half as likely to die from it than those not receiving estrogen, even after adjustment for confounders.
"This study shows an association between estrogen levels and COVID-19 death. Consequently, 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 investigators write.
However, speaking with Medscape Medical News, coauthor Anne-Marie Fors Connolly, MD, PhD, a resident in clinical microbiology at Umeå University, cautioned: "This is an observational study. Further clinical studies are needed to verify these results before recommending clinicians to consider estrogen supplementation."
...
Data on obesity, a known risk factor for COVID-19 death, weren't reported.
"Obesity would have been a very relevant variable to include. Unfortunately, this information is not present in the nationwide registry data that we used for our study," Connolly told Medscape Medical News.
While the data are observational and can't be used to inform treatment, Connolly pointed to a US randomized clinical trial currently recruiting patients that will investigate the effect of estradiol and progesterone therapy in 120 adults hospitalized with COVID-19.
In the meantime, she warned doctors and patients: "Please do not consider ending antiestrogen treatment following breast cancer — this is a necessary treatment for the cancer."
Evans noted, "There are short-term benefits of menopausal hormone therapy but women should not, based on this or other observational studies, be advised to take HRT for a supposed benefit on death from COVID-19."
BMJ Open. Published online February 14, 2022. Full text
