Hormone data adds up through app

A coronavirus app has begun gathering data on the role hormones could play in how ill people get with Covid-19 and to address the different effects on men and women.

Questions about periods, hormone medications and menopause have been added to the Covid Symptom Study app in a link-up with NHS England to inform research into the potential protective effects of hormonal therapies like HRT and the pill.

One doctor and menopause specialist said the new data could quickly help answer a “powerful question” about the influence of hormones, which could in turn “help the NHS save lives”.

More than three million people in the UK have already provided general data on the app, formerly known as the Covid Symptom Tracker, since it was launched by researchers at King’s College London.