I hesitated a while to write anything about Corona but I just felt that I wanted to give you some quick notes from a medical journalist’s point of view. I don’t wanna discuss if it’s right or wrong that Sweden isn’t in a lockdown or other such matters. I just want to share with you what I think about what the media is saying about Corona, about results from studies but also what is going in the alternative medicine world. 

I have seen updates all over how kimchi, meditation, CBD-oil etcetera could protect you from the virus. The alternative health gurus are trying with all means to surf on the Corona-wave and market their products or their beliefs. I can not entirely express what I think about that but what I can say is that I find it disturbing. 

If there is any moment in life that you should listen to medical science and not the alternative mumbo jumbo then this would be that time. But the problem is that not even the medical society knows anything for sure at the moment. As the chief of WHO expressed in a press conference on March 23rd – “small observational studies that are not randomised will not provide the answers we need at the moment” And he is right of course. We will have more answers when we have big randomised and preferably double-blind studies. Until then everything is just theories. 

There are so many questions. Could smoking be the reason why some contract the disease more severely? Could obesity be one of the reasons? Why do kids seem to be spared? And why are men more affected than women? This is what I wanted to focus on for a bit. Because I can see that the media is already writing about studies that are mentioning that oestrogen can have something to do with it. 

Some studies show that oestrogen might have a protecting effect. In some studies the death rates of infected mice increased when they had their ovaries removed or when they took drugs that suppressed their estrogen. If this would be true, it would mean that women during perimenopause and menopause could be more prone to get a severe form of  Covid-19 and even die from it. But listen, that is just a theory. What we need to understand is that these studies have been done on other Corona-viruses and not Covid-19. So drawing conclusions is hard to do because this is a completely new Corona-virus that we know nothing about. 

I wanted to mention this for you because maybe some of you have already heard about this and maybe you have drawn the conclusion that it is more dangerous to get the virus during perimenopause/menopause. I just wanted you all to know that we can not draw any conclusions yet from any studies. These are just theories until more studies have been done. So stay calm ladies and take care everyone.  

And stay safe and stay home. 

This is a guest post. Any opinions expressed are the writer’s own.