From what I gather in the abstract, this seems like baldness as a result of covid, rather than contributing to the risk of contracting covid, is the focus of the study, right?
[1] is not about male pattern baldness, it's about telogen effluvium (an acute physiological stress reaction), alopecia areata (autoimmune) and trichotillomania (pulling your hair out, psychological.) [2] does not mention lack of sleep at all, and instead gives a detailed mechanistic pathway from androgens to keratins.
Male balding is a "risk factor"? I know academia is full of morons but can you at least try?
Male pattern baldness is a result of hormonal imbalance caused by a poor diet. The same poor diet is a cause for poor immune system.
It's difficult to reverse male pattern baldness but the immune system can be improved at any time.
A simple good diet is paleo food that you like to eat. Regardless of food industry propaganda has to say, we are NOT the one animal that likes to eat what is bad for us and dislike what is good for us. Eat what you like. That's the best diet.
is the infection severity angle due to testosterone's immunosuppressive effects as a steroid? are women less likely to develop severe covid-19 than men?
I'm hoping I've gotten some extra protection by ditching testosterone for estrogen, but there's almost no data on infections in trans people on HRT.
> is the infection severity angle due to testosterone's immunosuppressive effects as a steroid?
Yes, most likely[1].
> are women less likely to develop severe covid-19 than men?
Yes[2]. This was an early observation and has been observed consistently since Covid-19 was discovered.
> I'm hoping I've gotten some extra protection by ditching testosterone for estrogen
That's an interesting question. I'm a layperson, but I would assume the answer is yes, since testosterone levels seems to be the root cause of the sex differences in immune response. I'm sure the doctor who helped/helps you transition would know.
It's possible that vitamin D (another hormone and a secosteroid) is an even more important factor than testosterone, in case you're looking for other ways to safely reduce your risk of severe Covid.
Last time i checked you need a specific gene for your testosterone and dihydro-testosterone to cause baldness. So a full-head could have higher T levels and more hair. Balding MTF transgenders do often regain significant ground once they decrease T levels.
"There are a lot of myths out there about balding men. One of them is that men with MPB are more virile and have higher levels of testosterone. This isn’t necessarily the case. Men with MPB may actually have lower circulating levels of testosterone but higher levels of the enzyme that converts testosterone to DHT. Alternately, you may simply have genes that give you hair follicles that are highly sensitive to testosterone or DHT." [1]
How does looking at the ratio of positive/negative Covid-19 test results after being admitted to hospital for Covid-19 symptoms bear any relation to balding being a risk factor?
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[ 0.26 ms ] story [ 90.4 ms ] thread> Recent observations by Wambier et al suggest that men with pattern baldness are at high risk for severe symptomatic COVID-19 infection
Source - https://www.mcanhealth.com/elon-musk-hair-transplant-analysi...
I wonder if balding could be indicative of “biological” age better than “calendar” age?
[1] https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-manageme...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattern_hair_loss
your conclusion is not supported by your sources.
Male pattern baldness is a result of hormonal imbalance caused by a poor diet. The same poor diet is a cause for poor immune system.
It's difficult to reverse male pattern baldness but the immune system can be improved at any time.
A simple good diet is paleo food that you like to eat. Regardless of food industry propaganda has to say, we are NOT the one animal that likes to eat what is bad for us and dislike what is good for us. Eat what you like. That's the best diet.
I'm surprised we don't see them speculate about that connection in the discussion.
I'm hoping I've gotten some extra protection by ditching testosterone for estrogen, but there's almost no data on infections in trans people on HRT.
Yes, most likely[1].
> are women less likely to develop severe covid-19 than men?
Yes[2]. This was an early observation and has been observed consistently since Covid-19 was discovered.
> I'm hoping I've gotten some extra protection by ditching testosterone for estrogen
That's an interesting question. I'm a layperson, but I would assume the answer is yes, since testosterone levels seems to be the root cause of the sex differences in immune response. I'm sure the doctor who helped/helps you transition would know.
It's possible that vitamin D (another hormone and a secosteroid) is an even more important factor than testosterone, in case you're looking for other ways to safely reduce your risk of severe Covid.
1. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/man-flu-really-thing-201...
2. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19741-6
[1]: https://www.healthline.com/health/hair-loss-and-testosterone