It’s probably just a fantasy, the infamous “cold man”. According to researchers from Innsbruck, men and women probably have the same symptoms to the same extent when they have a cold. A new study in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research clarifies.
The Innsbruck researchers have now finally put an end to the myth of colds in men. In one study, they found that men do not have worse symptoms than women. However, these are likely to recover more quickly.
“Empirical data are scarce”
“Despite widespread recognition of ‘cold man’ in general pop culture, empirical data on gender-specific differences are sparse,” write the scientists, led by David Riedl of the University Department of Psychiatry II and Daniel Dejaco of the University Department of Ear, Nose and throat medicine University of Innsbruck.
Hardly any difference in symptoms
In their study, they observed the course of symptoms in 113 people with flu-like symptoms. Slightly more than half of the subjects were female. The symptoms were assessed both by the patients themselves and by a physician. The result is clear: there is no significant difference between men and women in terms of objective symptoms such as nasal congestion, headache or chills. However, women would recover faster.
The reason is hormones
The researchers cite the interaction of sex hormones with the immune system as a possible reason for this. Previous studies have shown that women are better able to produce antibodies, which increases immune activity and thus a faster and more effective defense against infections.
Source: Krone
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