COLD & FLU ADVICE

DOCTOR’S ADVICE: IS MAN FLU A THING AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

COUGH & COLD ADVICE FROM A DOCTOR

A GP for over 30 years, this doctor is an expert in coughs and colds. If you have a question, they are on hand to provide the answers!

Note: The doctor does not endorse any medical brands or products.

An age-old debate: is man flu a thing and if so, what does it mean? This one’s a sensitive topic, so we’re letting a specialist doctor share the answer.

The term ‘man flu’ means, “a cold or similar minor ailment as experienced by a man who is regarded as exaggerating the severity of the symptoms.” It was originally coined to suggest that men overemphasise their symptoms, giving the impression that they’ve been suffering dreadfully, when actually they have the same cold or flu as a woman.

However, is there any basis for this assumption? Do men struggle more to fight cough and colds head-on? A study from Stanford University Medical School in 2013 suggests that the male hormone testosterone may actually weaken a man’s immune ability to fight off infection.

So, does this mean that man flu is real and the symptoms that men feel are worse? The answer remains a mystery. What’s definitely the case though, is that moping around won’t help banish your symptoms. Get back in control and feeling your best with a tailored treatment for your specific type of cough or cold.

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