‘Man Flu’ is Real, New Study Suggests

The phenomenon of ‘man flu’ — a cold or similar minor ailment experienced by a man who is thought to be exaggerating the severity of the symptoms — may have some basis in fact, suggests new research by Dr. Kyle Sue from the Memorial University of Newfoundland.

The new study explores whether men are wimps or just have weaker immune systems. Image credit: Klaus Hausmann.

The new study explores whether men are wimps or just have weaker immune systems. Image credit: Klaus Hausmann.

Man flu’ is a term so ubiquitous that it has been included in the Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries.

Oxford defines it as ‘a cold or similar minor ailment as experienced by a man who is regarded as exaggerating the severity of the symptoms.’

“Since about half of the world’s population is male, deeming male viral respiratory symptoms as ‘exaggerated’ without rigorous scientific evidence, could have important implications for men, including insufficient provision of care,” Dr. Sue said.

“Despite the universally high incidence and prevalence of viral respiratory illnesses, no scientific review has examined whether the term man flu is appropriate or accurate.”

So Dr. Sue set out to determine whether men really experience worse symptoms than women and whether this could have any evolutionary basis.

He analyzed relevant research and found some evidence that adult men have a higher risk of hospital admission and have higher rates of influenza associated deaths compared with women in the same age groups, regardless of underlying disease.

For many acute respiratory diseases, males are also more susceptible to complications and exhibit a higher mortality.

And some evidence supports men suffering more from viral respiratory illness than women because they have a less robust immune system.

“Despite this evidence, further higher quality research is needed to clarify other aspects of man flu because it remains uncertain whether viral quantities, immune response, symptoms, and recovery time can be affected by environmental conditions,” Dr. Sue said.

“The concept of man flu, as commonly defined, is potentially unjust. Men may not be exaggerating symptoms but have weaker immune responses to viral respiratory viruses, leading to greater morbidity and mortality than seen in women,” he said.

“However, there may be an evolutionary benefit to a less robust immune system, as it has allowed men to invest their energy in other biological processes, such as growth, secondary sex characteristics, and reproduction.”

“There are benefits to energy conservation when ill. Lying on the couch, not getting out of bed, or receiving assistance with activities of daily living could also be evolutionarily behaviors that protect against predators.”

“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,” Dr. Sue said.

The study is published in the journal BMJ.

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Kyle Sue. 2017. The science behind ‘man flu.’ BMJ 359: j5560; doi: 10.1136/bmj.j5560

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