Covid side-effects in women: Why women suffer longer than men; expert take

Covid side-effects in women: If you and your partner have recently recovered from Covid-19, there are chances that both of you would have a different post Covid story to tell.

Many studies in West have concluded that the symptoms and severity of post Covid disease have a clear demarcation for men and women. While women are more likely to face sleep troubles, anxiety, menstrual irregularities, fungal infections and hair loss, men usually experience breathlessness post Covid, say studies.

According to certain studies, while the Covid symptoms largely remain the same for men and women to begin with, the latter faced more extensive ones post the disease which also take a little more time to recover as compared to men. As per a Lancet article published in November 2020, while globally Covid-19 case fatality rates are higher among men than women, in a few countries, such as India, fatality rate is higher in women.

“The multi centric study in Spain done in 2021 showed that women above the age of 45 years are more prone to develop post covid disease. Also, the symptoms in women were very distinct such as sleep disturbances, palpitations, anxiety, headache, fatigue, low blood pressure and hair loss as compared to men who report breathlessness as their primary symptom,” says Dr Charu Dutt Arora, Consultant Physician and Infectious Disease Specialist Head, Ameri Health, Asian Hospital, Faridabad.

“Women have been the victim of this virus as well. However, they have been lucky enough to have less morbidity and mortality. Having said that, they are no exception to post covid syndrome. We have seen menstrual irregularities, dysmenorrhea and menorrhagia in maximum of our patients. Also,we have noticed hair loss lasting for months, especially in younger age group,” says Dr Honey Savla, Consultant Internal Medicine, Wockhardt Hospital, Mumbai Central.

Elaborating on other post Covid symptoms women usually face Dr Savla says, “they have been suffering from loose motions for longer time. We have noticed highly deranged blood sugars in many individuals. There are complaints of easy fatiguability and breathlessness lasting for longer time. Also I have seen increase in genital fungal infections since second wave,” says the expert.

Dr Arora says it happens because at a molecular level, it has been observed that the IL-6 level is higher in females during their post-Covid period. The expert suggests that it is imperative for healthcare workers to customise the treatment in long Covid on the basis of sex of the patient.

Studies also suggest that women suffer more from post Covid symptoms than men and also take longer to recover.

“Though there are small studies to support the fact but females are more affected with post covid symptoms compared to males. As per the studies conducted at Mayo Clinic, symptoms of Covid-19 were similar to begin with in both genders. But post covid 19 symptoms – which are symptoms developing after 2 months of infection – were more common in females which took slightly longer duration to recover,” says Dr Santosh Kumar Jha, Medical Superintendent, Porvoo Transition Care.

Most common post-covid symptoms in male and females are following:

* Fatigue

* Muscle ache or pain

* Low blood pressure

* Chest pain

* Shortness of breath

* Headache