Researchers Find Some Basis for ‘Man Flu’

A team of British researchers has found that the phenomenon of ‘man flu’ actually exists as additional temperature receptors in their brains mean that men experience worse symptoms of coughs and colds compared to women. Children deal with colds the same way because the relevant area of the brain is the same size in boys and girls, Durham University neuroscientist Dr Amanda Ellison said.

But when boys hit puberty testosterone starts to act on the area, called the preoptic nucleus, making it larger, the Daily Mail reported.

"When you have a cold one of the things that happens is you get an increase in temperature to fight off the bugs. The bugs can't survive at higher temperatures," Dr Ellison said.

She said that when the immune system is under attack, the preoptic nucleus increases temperature to kill off the bugs.

But men have more temperature receptors because that area of the brain is bigger in men than women. So men run a higher temperature and feel rougher - and if they complain they feel rough then maybe they're right, she said.

Source-ANI