You ever hear anyone complain that men are babies when they’re sick?
I definitely have. Probably because I was the one saying it.
Sorry ‘bout that, fellas.
As it turns out, it might be a thing going around called the man-flu. According to a new study from the Royal Holloway University of London, some infectious diseases (read: the cold and flu) may have morphed over time to cause more harm to men than women.
“Viruses may be evolving to be less dangerous to women, looking to preserve the female population. The virus wants to be passed from mother to child, either through breastfeeding, or just through giving birth,” says Dr. Francesco Ubeda, an author of the study.
While the logistics of how this comes to be is unclear, co-author Dr. Vincent Jansen notes that viruses may be able to depict the hormonal differences in the host.
What’s more: it’s not just colds and flu. Additional discoveries from New Scientist find “men infected with tuberculosis are 1.5 times more likely to die than women; men infected with HPV are five times more likely to develop cancer than women; and men infected with herpes are at least twice as likely to develop Hodgkin’s lymphoma as women.”
Those are some serious short straws.
Beef up on the zinc and vitamin C and condoms, and stay safe out there.
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