The male flu is not a myth. The fact that men suffer more than women from colds, coughs and sore throats has a medical background. But why do viral respiratory diseases such as COVID-19, the flu or the common cold affect men more than women?
- The phenomenon of male flu is not a myth, as studies show.
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The weak points of the stronger sex
Lifeline / week
"Men's flu", "Men's cold", "Men's cough": These terms are primarily used by women, often with a twinkle in their eye, to allude to an allegedly higher level of regret among men with symptoms such as runny nose, cough or fever. Studies have long proven that the male flu is not a myth. The stronger sex actually suffers more from respiratory infections like the flu.
Studies show that men's flu is not a myth
Kyle Sue, a professor of general medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, took an in-depth look at the male flu phenomenon. He explains that the main cause of male flu is gender-specific differences in the immune system. This is because the immune response to viral respiratory diseases tends to be lower in men than in women. This means that the "stronger sex" is less well armed against colds and flu than women.
This leads to significant differences in the course and severity of the disease:
Symptoms: In men, the symptoms of COVID-19, cold and flu are comparatively more pronounced.
Duration: The Complaints often last longer than in women. One study found that men, on average, take twice as long to recover from viral respiratory diseases such as the flu.
Course: In addition, viral infections of the respiratory tract are often more severe in men than in women. In the male sex, for example, pneumonia is more common. For example, men with COVID-19, colds and flu also have to be treated in hospital more frequently than women.
That Men suffer more than women, so it's not because they're more sorry. The reason for the male flu is that viral respiratory diseases manifest themselves in them in more severe and longer-lasting symptoms and sometimes more complicated courses.
Men are more likely to die from flu and colds
There are also differences in the death rate between men and women: In addition to numerous other specialist publications, a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 2014 showed that men on average die more often from flu than women. The large-scale analysis evaluated health data from over ten years (1997-2007).
Cause of the men's flu: testosterone weakens the immune system
The male flu can be explained medically: In viral respiratory diseases, men develop fewer immune markers than women. That is why the body's own defense function against flu, corona or cold viruses is less strong in men than in women.
Scientists see the male sex hormone testosterone as the main cause of the lower immune response. The immunosuppressive effects of testosterone have been observed in numerous studies. The higher the testosterone level, the lower the immune response is usually. Put simply, pathogens of viral respiratory infections have an easier time in men because testosterone weakens the immune system.
In contrast, the female sex hormone estrogen supports the immune system in fighting off flu, cold and coronaviruses. Women therefore tend to have milder symptoms and recover faster than men with viral respiratory diseases.
The feeling of pain is also influenced to a certain extent by the testosterone level. This is shown by a study by the American Academy of Sciences in 2013. The lower the concentration of the male sex hormone, the higher the pain sensation.
In addition to the sex hormones, other factors that could promote the phenomenon of the male flu are discussed. Including, for example, immune-weakening lifestyle factors. Men, for example, smoke more often than women, which generally weakens lung health and thus also promotes respiratory diseases and severe flu and co.
In addition to fatigue, other symptoms point to the coronavirus
Coronavirus is also more dangerous for men
According to the current state of knowledge, the differences in the female and male immune responses to cold and flu viruses can in many ways also be transferred to infections with the coronavirus: Scientists at Yale University were able to determine that the immune response to Sars-CoV-2 viruses in women is in Compared to men is on average stronger. This is not without consequences.
According to previous knowledge, men do not develop COVID-19 more often than women. However, Sars-CoV-2 infections are often more severe for them. For the male sex, higher death rates from the coronavirus are also recorded: Globally, almost two thirds of the fatalities to date are male (as of 11/2020).
Other possible reasons why the coronavirus is relatively more dangerous for men according to current knowledge are being discussed. These include, for example, lifestyle habits that are harmful to health, such as smoking.
Coronavirus: who belongs to the risk group for a severe course?
Men respond less well to flu vaccinations
The immunosuppressive effect of testosterone also seems to be the reason why men with high testosterone levels respond less well to the flu vaccination – according to a study published in the USA in 2013.
As part of the study, the scientists analyzed the antibody response to the flu vaccination in 52 women and 34 men of different age groups.
The results show that the development of antibodies and cytokines was higher in women than in men after administration of the influenza vaccination. Cytokines are messenger substances that also play a key role in fighting pathogens in the human immune system.
In addition to increased testosterone levels, the study also identified increased gene expressions that are involved in fat metabolism as a further factor for a lower antibody response to the flu vaccination.
Conversely, this means: If the flu vaccination tends to work less well in men, they are also more likely to get the men's flu.
Vaccinations recommended by STIKO
