Today’sepisode is on the lighter side. But did you know that researchers have actuallydone studies on the phenomenon of the man cold or man flu? You may be wonderingif it’s really worse for a man to have a cold than for a woman? Well: like wesay every time, we have the research, the truth and the answers you’re lookingfor!

That’sright, today we’re going to be talking about the very serious and culturallyunder-acknowledged and deeply stigmatized issue of man colds. 

Do Men Suffer More Than Woman?

Funnyenough, there have been a few research journal articles published on the mancold or man flu phenomenon. There was a joke article published in the BritishMedical Journal where a researcher tried to establish whether men wereimmunologically inferior or if they were just wimps. Fast forwarding to theconclusion, the researcher from the University of Alberta suggested that“Perhaps now is the time for male friendly spaces, equipped with enormoustelevisions and reclining chairs, to be set up where men can recover from thedebilitating effects of man flu in safety and comfort"[i].

Another Research Group Responds

Notcontent to let the issue lie, another group of researchers (who perhaps had toomuch time on their hands)[ii]wrote in to the British Medical Journal with their own investigation."Being men ourselves, and having had several near death experiencesenduring the flu, we were intrigued by the same question as Dr. Sue."

In theirstudy 15 men and 15 women were injected with a flu virus and their responseswere measured. They found that women have a stronger immune response to thevirus than men, meaning that women naturally recover from colds and flu morequickly while men suffer from them more severely. "We indeed found thatthe male subjects did not erect shelves, maintain cars or attend a footballmatch (or engaged in reproductive activities for that matter) directlyfollowing [our] study, illustrating how inflammation may affect social life.[iii]".

So some(not all) research shows that men may experience cold and flu symptoms moreseverely. But they may also communicate their illness in different ways. Astudy from 2018[iv]found that men and women "moaned and complained equally" when illwith cold symptoms but that men had a tendency to sigh and take long deepbreaths more often. This perhaps suggests a tendency to exaggerate symptomseverity.

Overallresearch suggests that men may experience cold and flu more severely due towomen having a stronger immune response. I think this warrants some sympathy!

How To Help Your Ill Spouse

It isinteresting to follow this gender issue further. We’ll give you some practicalinfo to help be that caring wife that you always wanted to be!

Get Him To The Doctor!

Men aremuch less likely to seek medical help regarding illnesses than women[v],or may seek help but do so much later once symptoms have gotten worse. This isthought to be due to "traditionally masculine beliefs" about wantingto cope with illness on your own and being reluctant to seek help. So if yourhusband is complaining about illness but refusing to do anything about it, gethim to a doctor!

Be Sympathetic, But Not Too Sympathetic

This oneis interesting. Research from 2018[vi]found that your expectations of how severe an illness will be can actuallyimpact how severe it is. Expecting an illness to be very severe can lead tonegative mood and anxiety, and these can increase the severity of the symptomsyou feel. So when comforting your spouse you want to be sympathetic andsupportive, but making too big a deal of the illness can make it worse.

A Health Check for your MarriageOnce again we’ve created a bonus guide for our much-appreciated supporters who are sensitive to the immunological vulnerabilities of men and understand they truly need a little extra care. Turns out that your physical health is linked to your marital health so we want to help you with a m...