The ‘man flu’: It’s not pretense, men actually do get sicker than women

The male sex may get a more serious and indolent course of disease simply due to a somewhat moderated immune response Photo: Courtesy

The common cold is a recurring and self-resolving viral infection. It tends to be a mild infection, with varying symptoms that include coughs, congested and runny noses, and headaches. Most people will handle a cold pretty well, and can manage to continue with their daily chores. But it appears men don’t really handle colds too well. They appear to get disproportionately worse symptoms compared to their female counterparts.

You will hardly notice when women have a cold. They’ll still get to work, take care of the kids, and multi-task with all the other household stuff. What about men? They will be the sickest folk around, hardly doing anything for themselves, and craving for attention. Is it all an act, or do men really get more ill when they have a cold? That’s how the term ‘man flu’ comes along. You see, flu is a more serious infection compared to the common cold, even though the two usually get confused. Individuals with a real flu will have a protracted course, severer symptoms and generally appear sicker. ‘Man flu’ equates to looking much sicker, than would be expected from a mild illness.