Man flu

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Man flu is a pejorative term that refers to the idea that when many men have a cold, they exaggerate and claim they have the flu — the implication being that women do not do so.

A web-based survey of readers of Nuts magazine in late 2006 stirred interest in this notion,[1] which was criticized as unscientific and unreliable.[2][3] It has been suggested that such exaggeration is possibly just as prevalent in women.[4] [5]

A study published in 2009 was widely reported as supporting the concept that "man flu" exists,[6][7] but many believe that the media were misunderstanding and/or misrepresenting the science.[8][9] The study had nothing to do with the flu (the experiment was related to bacterial, not viral, infection) and was performed on genetically modified mice rather than human beings, so the results are not necessarily applicable to humans.[10]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "'Man flu' really exists". http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2077385.html?menu=. Retrieved 2007-02-08. 
  2. ^ Boynton, Petra (2006-11-25). "Are reports of "man flu" just Nuts?". British Medical Journal. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/333/7578/1128?.maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=man+flu&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT. Retrieved 2007-02-08. 
  3. ^ Boynton, Petra (2006-11-14). "“Man Flu” – manufacturing an illness to sell a magazine". http://www.drpetra.co.uk/blog/?p=411. Retrieved 2007-02-08. 
  4. ^ "'Man flu' just as prevalent in women.". http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10440699. Retrieved 2007-06-11. 
  5. ^ "'Man flu and other health myths'.". 2007-10-01. http://www.infoscotland.com/flu. 
  6. ^ "Men succumb to manflu because women have stronger immune systems, claim scientists". http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/5313882/Men-succumb-to-manflu-because-women-have-stronger-immune-systems-claim-scientists.html. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
  7. ^ "Man flu is not a myth: Female hormones give women stronger immune systems". http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1180875/Man-flu-myth-Female-hormones-women-stronger-immune-systems.html. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
  8. ^ "Gender differences in expression of the human caspase-12 long variant determines susceptibility to Listeria monocytogenes infection". http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/05/14/0813362106.abstract?sid=9755129a-9376-4f5f-afc5-7e2106444bf8. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
  9. ^ "Man flu: real or myth?". http://www.nhs.uk/news/2009/05May/Pages/Manflurealormyth.aspx. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
  10. ^ "media - Bad Science". http://www.badscience.net/category/media/. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 

[edit] Further reading

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