If you’ve ever noticed that the men in your life (or men around you) seem to whine about being sick far more than most women you know, you’re not alone. Dr. Kyle Sue, a family medicine professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, wanted to find out more about this “myth” and published a review on Monday. Though the review does not present any new findings, it’s likely to make men “better” about feeling sick.
Based on the existing research, Sue concluded that the man flu is “potentially unjust,” citing studies that suggest that men are not exaggerating their symptoms – they just have weaker immune responses than women. Sue also wrote that a number of studies conducted in mice or human cell samples suggest that differences in male and female sex and stress hormones may affect influenza outcomes. However, the human studies have been mostly epidemiological (looking at trends and patterns within a population, rather than conducting a study in a lab).
Even so, these studies suggest that men with influenza are more likely to die or need hospitalization as opposed to women infected with influenza. Mostly because women tend to be more responsive to flu vaccines than men, and men take longer to recover from viral respiratory illnesses than women – on top of having worse symptoms when they get a cold.
Some studies have also suggested that testosterone may suppress the immune system, pointing to a potential evolutionary basis for man flu. Basically, the same hormone that gives men the ability to grow facial hair and muscle strength would also leave them with a weaker immune system!
There are major limitations to these studies, though. Some of these studies are biased or low-level quality. However, Sue, acknowledges these barriers and calls for further research to help determine if the phenomenon is truly psychological, or if there’s a physiological basis to man flu.
Guess it’s about time to be a little more sympathetic when a man starts whining about “this flu is killing me”!
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