Men may actually get sicker from respiratory viruses and may not be just exaggerating their symptoms, says Dr. Kyle Sue. The doctor based in Canada’s northern territory of Nunavut reviewed some scientific literature to find out whether men have weaker immune responses than do women.
Exploring ‘whether men are wimps’
In opening his article, Sue notes that the term “man flu” has become so common that it has been included in the Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries and he wanted to “explore whether men are wimps or just immunologically inferior.”
He looked at several studies of mice and humans that suggested symptoms in males are often more acute. He also found a Hong Kong study done between 2004 and 2010 that found men had a higher risk of admission to hospital as a result of flu and a U.S. study from 1997-2007 found men had higher rates of death associated with the flu.
Hormonal reasons? Evolution?
Sue says there may be hormonal reasons causing different immune responses and in terms of evolution, it may have been better for men to feel worse so that they stayed home and out of the way of predators.
While none of the studies is conclusive, Sue suggests we should give men the benefit of the doubt and concludes: “Perhaps now is the time for male friendly spaces, equipped with enormous televisions and reclining chairs, to be set up where men can recover from the debilitating effects of man flu in safety and comfort.”
‘Really?’
Somehow, I don’t think the article is likely to end the popular practice among many Canadian women of deriding their sick and complaining male partners.
Sue’s article was published in the British Medical Journal.
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