The annual flu epidemic has started, conclude the Nivel research institute, the Erasmus MC and the RIVM. On our response platform NUjij you regularly read that men suffer more from the flu than women. Does the so-called man flu really exist?
According to flu expert and former GP Ted van Essen, the man flu is a hoax. “Some people suffer more from the flu than others,” he says. “But there is no reason to assume that men get sick more from flu than women.”
The RIVM also says that some people have more complaints than others. “There is no scientific evidence for something like man flu. Flu is caused by the influenza virus and it can make you sick,” says spokesperson Harald Wychgel.
Sabine Oertelt-Prigione is professor of Sex and Gender Sensitive Medicine at Radboud university medical center and also says that there is no such thing as the man flu. “But there is a difference in the immune system,” says the professor. “The immune system in women is more active.”
Oertelt-Prigione says that due to a more active immune system, women produce more antibodies after, for example, a flu shot or a vaccination against COVID-19. “Potentially, the flu could clear up more quickly in women, but there is no scientific evidence for this. A more active immune system does have the disadvantage that there is an increased risk of an autoimmune disease.”
Differences between men and women are natural
Van Essen says that half of the people who are infected with flu do not have any problems, while there are also people who die from it. “For example, if you are older or have an unhealthy lifestyle, you are more likely to develop complaints due to reduced resistance.”
There are differences between men and women in terms of health, but these are natural differences. “An example is menstruation, because women menstruate and men do not,” van Essen explains. “But that has nothing to do with the resistance.”
How can such a prejudice arise? According to Van Essen, how sick you become does not only depend on the virus, but also on your illness behavior. “You see it more in some people. They groan and groan, while others suffer in silence,” he says. “But I can’t say whether that is typical behavior for men or women.”
‘Being tough or complaining for attention’
You acquire this ‘disease behavior’ during your upbringing. “Some children are kept home if they sneeze one time, while others are sent to school with a fever of 40 degrees. You learn during your childhood whether you have to be tough or complain for attention,” says Van Essen.
Both have their pros and cons. “Some people who are tough are sometimes too tough and sound the alarm too late. While people who stay at home run the risk of being called a poser,” says the former GP. “The trick is to express as many complaints as necessary.”
Oertelt-Prigione thinks that the prejudices have to do with how men and women behave in private. “We know that women go to the doctor more often and describe more symptoms. Men go to the doctor less often. So when they do go, they are taken more seriously.”
2024-01-28 12:17:21
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