Web Desk(December 13, 2017): As winter rolls into town, so does the flu and all its miserable symptoms. Yet, doctors and women alike have long noticed that men tend to bemoan those symptoms more than women. The phenomenon even has a name: the “man flu.”
A new analysis suggests that respiratory illnesses may indeed hit men harder than women.
According Dr. Kyle Sue, “there are already many physiologic differences between men and women, so it makes sense that we could differ in our responses to cold and flu viruses as well.”
“The evidence in current studies points towards men having weaker immune systems than women, especially when it comes to common viral respiratory infections,” Sue explained. “Men are more susceptible to them, symptoms are worse, they last longer, and men are more likely to be hospitalized and die from the flu.”
One investigation suggested that when the flu strikes, adult men face a greater risk for being admitted to the hospital than their female peers. Another also found that, all things being equal, men seem to face a higher risk for actually dying from the flu than women.
Still another investigation indicated that in the face of both the flu and other respiratory illnesses, men face a higher risk for developing complications than women.
What’s more, several mouse studies suggested that hormonal differences between men and women may actually offer women greater protection from the full brunt of flu symptoms. 
And yet another study found that women tend to develop a stronger reaction to the flu vaccine than men, perhaps because higher testosterone levels among men tend to suppress the overall immune response, the review team suggested.
“Men are regularly stereotyped to exaggerate cold and flu symptoms,” Sue noted. “That’s how the term ‘man flu’ became so commonly used internationally, regardless of differences in culture,” he said.
Related News:
Indonesia Vaccinates Millions to Halt Deadly Diphtheria Outbreak
