Is It True That Men Are More Manned When Sick? This Is The Scientific Explanation

JAKARTA - When sick, many people feel uncomfortable and prefer to rest to recover the body. However, we often hear that men tend to be more spoiled or show more excessive symptoms when sick than women.

This phenomenon has become a popular topic of conversation, particularly in the context of 'man flu' or male flu theories, which describe men as more dramatic figures and require extra attention when they are sick. But, is there any scientific reason behind this behavior?

Although scientific evidence supporting this theory has not been fully convincing, some studies have shown that male and female immune cells respond to the attacking virus in different ways.

A study says men are indeed more susceptible to some types of disease, and that physiological factors, not psychology, may be the main cause.

Recent research published in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity shows that adult male mice show more symptoms of illness than females when exposed to bacteria that cause diseases with flu-like symptoms. They also experience greater body temperature fluctuations, fever, signs of inflammation, and take longer to recover.

Although research on laboratory animals does not necessarily apply to humans, the results of this study still provide interesting questions in the field of human health science.

According to Sabra Klein, professor of molecular and immunological microbiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said some studies with human cells as well as in mice showed that male immune cells had more active receptors for certain pathogens.

"It's not always because of the presence of microbes or viruses that make us sick," Klein said, quoted by VOI from Megazine's Time page on Monday, February 17.

"It is our immune response that plays a role, and research shows that men have a stronger response to attracting immune cells to the location of the infection, which contributes to overall pain," he added.

The exact cause of this phenomenon is not yet fully understood, but one hypothesis states that testosterone and estrogen affect these immune receptors in a different way.

The new findings in these mice do not support the relationship between sex hormones and illness, but some other studies actually support them. For example, Klein's 2015 study of human cells finding estrogen-based compounds makes the flu virus more difficult to infect these samples.

Another theory put forward in a 2010 study by researchers from the University of Cambridge states that men evolve to have weaker immune systems and lower immunity due to their behavior tends to be risky.

Other studies suggest that as women more easily transmit pathogens to children, they have built stronger natural defenses against them.

However, this protection does not apply to all types of diseases. In a 2016 article published in Nature Reviews Immunology, Klein noted that although men show their vulnerability to certain diseases, such as non-reproductive cancer, women are more susceptible to other diseases, such as autoimmune diseases.

Regarding 'man flu', there are other factors that also play a role. Research shows that men tend to wash their hands more frequently on a regular basis and visit doctors more frequently.

"Traditional norms clearly influence our behavior. So most likely this is a combination of various interconnected factors." Klein continued.