It’s going to be a long winter when men hear this.
As much as we like to ignore their complaints, it turns out men could actually be suffering more than women when it comes to the flu.
New research published in the British Medical Journal suggests that men are worse affected than women when they get the flu.
Lead researcher Dr Kyle Sue, of the Memorial University of Newfoundland, wanted to ascertain whether or not men had weakened immune systems in comparison to women and whether or not this meant they get worse symptoms of the flu.
He found evidence that suggests that more men have died as a result of influenza, compared with women of the same age. Commenting on the results he said:
“I do think that the research does point towards men having a weaker immune response when it comes to common viral respiratory infections and the flu.
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.”
However, his solution to this new research is to create a room that sounds like a man cave. He added:
“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.”
We’re not sure how well this would go down.
