Man flu ⊠no longer a myth.
It has been scorned by women as a sign of male weakness for generations â but âman fluâ might not be a myth after all as men and women have different brains, new research has claimed.
Neuroscientist Amanda Ellison, of Britainâs Durham University, has reached the conclusion that men really do suffer more with coughs and colds as they have more temperature receptors in the brain.
Dr Ellison said the difference lies in the area of the brain which balances a variety of bodily mechanisms, including temperature.
Men and women start out as equals in dealing with colds because the area, known as the preoptic nucleus, is the same size in children.
But when boys hit puberty testosterone starts to act on the area, which is in the brainâs hypothalamus and attached to a hormone gland, making it larger.
Dr Ellison, a senior lecturer at Durham, said: âWhen you have a cold one of the things that happens is you get an increase in temperature to fight off the bugs.
âThe bugs canât survive at higher temperatures. When your immune system is under attack the preoptic nucleus increases temperature to kill off the bugs.
âBut men have more temperature receptors because that area of the brain is bigger in men than women.
âSo men run a higher temperature and feel rougher â and if they complain they feel rough then maybe theyâre right.â
Previous research did point towards the reality of âMan Fluâ. But the findings related to genetically engineered mice and were widely regarded as inconclusive.
Dr Ellison has used research carried out by other people on human brains to arrive at her conclusions in her book, Getting Your Head Around the Brain, focusing on the difference between the minds of men and women. The original research methods involved the study of brains in post mortem as well as images obtained from scans.
Telegraph, London
Source: Research backs up 'man flu' sufferers (http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/research-backs-up-man-flu-sufferers-20130125-2dc68.html)
