Explained: What are Estrogen and progesterone?

News:Men have appeared likelier than women to die of COVID-19.Trials by researchers in US will seek to find out whether the answer lies in two sex hormones in women-estrogen and progesterone.

Facts:

• Estrogen and progesterone are the two main sex hormones that characterise a woman.
• Estrogen:It helps women develop female physical features and also maintains her reproductive system.
• Progesterone:It is secreted by a temporary endocrine gland that the body produces during the second half of the menstrual cycle and helps prepare the body for possible pregnancy after ovulation.
• The male body too has estrogen and produces progesterone both in smaller amounts.