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.[1]
A web-based survey[2] of readers of Nuts magazine in late 2006 stirred interest[3] in this notion, which was criticized as unscientific and unreliable[1][2]. It has been suggested that such exaggeration is possibly just as prevalent in women.[4] [5]
A study published in 2009[6] was widely[7] reported [8] as supporting the concept that "man flu" exists, but this was purely the media misunderstanding and/or misrepresenting the science.[9] The study had nothing to do with '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
- ^ a b 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 on 2007-02-08.
- ^ a b Boynton, Petra (2006-11-14). "“Man Flu” – manufacturing an illness to sell a magazine". http://www.drpetra.co.uk/blog/?p=411. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
- ^ "'Man flu' really exists". http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2077385.html?menu=. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
- ^ "'Man flu' just as prevalent in women.". http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10440699. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.
- ^ "'Man flu and other health myths'.". 2007-10-01. http://www.infoscotland.com/flu.
- ^ "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 on 2009-05-23.
- ^ "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 on 2009-05-23.
- ^ "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 on 2009-05-23.
- ^ "Man flu: real or myth?". http://www.nhs.uk/news/2009/05May/Pages/Manflurealormyth.aspx. Retrieved on 2009-05-23.
- ^ "media - Bad Science". http://www.badscience.net/category/media/. Retrieved on 2009-05-23.
[edit] Further reading
- "Man Flu — It's Official". Benenden Healthcare Society. 2005-11-01. http://www.benenden.org.uk/healthcare/news-room/articles/man-flu-its-official/.
- Official Man Flu website
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