HomeLifestyleHealth & FitnessWomen are better at detecting early signs of Covid than men

Women are better at detecting early signs of Covid than men

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Women may be better at noticing changes in their bodies and recognizing more subtle symptoms, say researchers.

Researchers claim that women are better at spotting early coronavirus symptoms than men.

According to a study that examined data from the Zoe Covid Symptom Study app, women are more likely to recognise signs of the virus because they are better at noticing changes in their bodies.

Women were more likely to report symptoms such as loss of smell, chest pain, and a persistent cough.

On the other hand, men were more likely than women to report symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue, chills, and fever, according to the findings published in the journal Lancet Digital Health.

The differences could be biological, researchers said.

It was also discovered that women may be better than men at detecting subtle symptoms.

Lead author Dr Claire Steves, from King’s College London (KCL), said:

“It’s important people know the earliest symptoms are wide-ranging and may look different for each member of a family or household.

“We’re not the first study to show a difference in symptom reporting between men and women. Women report more symptoms overall than men, and women might be more sensitive to a wide range of symptoms. They are more likely to recognise symptoms within themselves.

“The point is we found a slightly different structure of symptoms between women and men, which means they may well need different symptoms to prompt them to get a test.

“We’ve always been a little bit concerned there were only three core symptoms, and now that testing is widely available, we should encourage people to get tested even if they have symptoms that aren’t core.”

Age differences in reported symptoms were also discovered by the researchers.

People over the age of 60 were more likely to report diarrhoea.

However, among this age group, loss of smell was not as common.

Dr Liane dos Santos Canas, from KCL, and the first author of the study, told The Telegraph:

“Currently, in the UK, only a few symptoms are used to recommend self-isolation and further testing. Using a larger number of symptoms – and only after a few days of being unwell – using AI [artificial intelligence], we can better detect Covid-19 positive cases.

“We hope such a method is used to encourage more people to get tested as early as possible to minimise the risk of spread.”

Image Credit: Getty

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