Women Fight The Flu Better Than Men
June 28, 2011 No Comments
Get the soup, herbal tea, vaporizers, cough drops, tissues and tender love and care ready — your man is sick.
Women may accuse men of being babies when they get a cold, exaggerating for the extra attention they used to get as little boys when it was perfectly fine to need their mommies, but men are not resisting bugs as well as women, according to new scientific data.
A woman’s immune system is better able to resist the invasion of rhinoviruses, known more commonly as common colds, according to the study performed by researchers at the University of Queensland, Australia.
Apparently, female sex hormones are responsible for the difference in immune response. Once women hit menopause – and the concentration of sex hormones dips dramatically – the difference significantly fades.
But as much as the results show a correlation between hormones and immune response, a study including only 63 healthy volunteers can’t give us any final answers.
Regardless, you’re probably cringing at this point. Won’t this new evidence unleash a bigger beast, leaving you at the constant beck and call of Mr. Man Flu? Well, even if it does, it just means he’ll have to return the favour. Just because the study says women have better immune responses doesn’t mean that they can’t get just as sick. The flu is a constantly changing virus affecting all individuals differently.
In the name of karma, let’s cut men some slack. They may be needy when they’re not feeling well, but we all need extra love and attention sometimes.
Contact the author here: tinybart@morningquickie.com
