'Man flu' is real, says Canadian doctor
It strikes at night, with a slight scratch in your throat or a quiet cough creeping in, and by morning you’re living with a full-blown winter cold.
While we’ve all been subject to this, regardless of sex, the “man cold” often mocked as males being overly dramatic about their mild symptoms. What most can work through, some men will take advantage of their sniffle to spend the day in bed.
Oxford Dictionary defines the “man flu” as “a cold or similar minor ailment as experienced by a man who is regarded as exaggerating the severity of the symptoms.”
But now one researcher is saying men may be susceptible to more extreme symptoms than their female counterparts.
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An article in the British Medical Journal looks into the science behind the “man flu,” inspiring one Canadian professor to conduct some research of his own. Dr. Kyle Sue, a clinical assistant professor at Memorial University in St. John’s, Nfld., studied the science in the journal to determine whether men really do have it worse when it comes to seasonal head colds or the flu.
He concludes that the evidence proves the “man flu” isn’t something to be taken lightly.
“I think the symptoms are real… and they’re worse,” he told CBC News. “I’ve been criticized for exaggerating my symptoms when I had the flu… I thought. You know what? This would be an interesting topic to look into.”
While admitting the research is partly personal to him, the doctor also looked into studies that involved mice and healthy people. In the study that infected 63 healthy people, they found women had a stronger immune response than men.
“Testosterone is a hormone that actually acts as an immunosuppressant. Whereas estrogen works in the opposite direction. They stimulate the immune system,” said Sue. “So men with higher testosterone actually end up being more susceptible to viral respiratory and tend to get them worse.”
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He also looked into international studies with one piece of research from Hong Kong revealing men were more likely to be admitted to hospital. A study conducted from 1997 through 2007 in the United States showed men have a higher rate of flu-related deaths than women.
“The whole point of doing this article is to prove that men are not wimps,” said Sue. “Actually, we are suffering from something we have no control over … [We] should be given the benefit of the doubt rather than being criticized for not functioning well during the flu or the common cold.”
While the evidence is welcome, we’d be interested in seeing a woman conduct the same research before making a final conclusion.
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