Not tonight, dear, I’ve got a tickly cough

mEN suffering from coronavirus are likely to lose their sex drive, a study suggests.

Scientists have discovered a Covid-19 infection could deplete testosterone levels, leading to a loss of libido.

The deterioration of the sex hormone could also explain why male patients have a poorer prognosis, as scientists found the severity of the virus increased as testosterone levels decreased.

The researchers say their findings could lead to the possibility of using testosterone-based treatments to try to improve survival rates.

The Turkish team looked at 232 male coronavirus patients. They split them into three groups – asymptomatic patients, symptomatic patients who were hospitalised, and patients who were in intensive care.

Analysis revealed that as men’s testosterone levels decreased, the probability of them being in intensive care ‘significantly’ increased.

Patients who died had much lower testosterone levels than the patients who survived. And almost two-thirds of the asymptomatic patients reported a loss in libido.

Selahittin Cayan, the lead author of the study, which was published in the journal The Aging male, said: ‘The mean testosterone decreased as the severity of Covid-19 increased. The total testosterone level was significantly lower in the ICU group than in the asymptomatic group.

‘We found hypogonadism – a condition in which the body doesn’t produce enough testosterone – in 51 per cent of the patients.’ It is hoped the findings could help explain why so many studies have found that the prognosis for men who have Covid19 is worse than for female patients.

Professor Cayan said: ‘Testosterone is associated with the immune system of respiratory organs, and low levels of testosterone might increase the risk of respiratory infections. It could be recommended that at the time of Covid-19 diagnosis, testosterone levels are also tested.

‘In men with low levels of sex hormones who test positive for Covid19, testosterone treatment could improve their prognosis. more research is needed.’

Even in the early days of the pandemic, it became clear that men are more likely to die than women.

Scientists say one explanation could be that men are more likely to engage in ‘risky behaviour’ such as drinking and smoking, which lead to cardiovascular disease that could increase the chances of someone dying from Covid-19.

Allan Pacey, a professor of andrology at the University of Sheffield, said: ‘I don’t think we should be surprised that the Covid infection affects testosterone.

‘The receptor that the virus uses to get into human cells is on the surface of the cells that make testosterone – though this is the first paper to confirm that testosterone is affected.’

He said the suggestion that testosterone therapy might be a benefit to men was a ‘premature’ assumption to make without proper trials.

‘What is interesting is the suggestion of a link between Covid and sexual function,’ he added. ‘If the virus does do this to testosterone levels, then there’s no surprise that sexual function will go down. It may well be that for some men this is something that will be the case for a long time.’

‘Testosterone levels were lower’