New study reveals COVID-19's adverse affect on men's sexual health

The novel coronavirus which sparked its origin late last year has wrecked havoc in everyone's lives. With the origin of the virus yet to be traced a new study has revealed that the COVID-19 virus can lead to medical issues in men. The Blood samples from Covid-19 patients in a small-scale study indicate that the virus can lead to testicle malfunction. In a paper published on the preprint research platform medRxiv.org, the researchers – from Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University and the Hubei Clinical Research Centre for Prenatal Diagnosis and Birth Health, analysed blood samples from 81 men aged 20 to 54 who tested positive for the coronavirus and were hospitalised in January. The average age of the participants was 38 and roughly 90 percent of them had only mild symptoms.

The samples were collected in the last days of their stay in hospital.Using the samples, the team looked at the ratio of testosterone to luteinising hormone (T/LH).A low T/LH ratio can be a sign of hypogonadism, which in men is a malfunction of the testicles that could lead to lower sex hormone production. The average ratio for the Covid-19 patients was 0.74, about half the normal level.

Common symptoms of hypogonadism in men include abnormally large breasts and erectile dysfunction. Commenting on their finding, the Wuhan researchers said: “Since more than half of the people with Covid-19 were reproductive-aged, more attention should be paid to the effect of Sars-CoV-2 on the reproductive system, the designated medical term for COVID-19." They said their results were not conclusive and the blood samples were not direct proof of reproductive problems with Covid-19 patients. Some of the studies also reveal that there are high chances of inflammation in the testicles. Another researcher claimed that viruses can effect  fertility, but not every virus can cause a pandemic. If the impact is long lasting, it can be a problem,”