SlingerDun
10-12-11, 07:46 PM
WOMEN may not believe it – but men really do suffer more when they get a cold.
Monday September 19,2011
The male immune system is less effective at fighting off infections than the female system and that means men feel worse when battling illness than women, researchers have shown.
The discovery could explain so-called man flu, where husbands and boyfriends are bed-ridden by colds and bugs that leave women able to soldier on.
Dr Ramona Scotland, of Queen Mary University of London, led a team which studied the immune systems of mice and rats given a host of different infections.
They looked at the white blood cells in the lungs and stomach which act as the body’s first line of defence against infection.
“We found that the females had around twice as many white blood cells than males which was a huge surprise,” she said.
“When we started to look at how these white blood cells behaved we found that not only were there more cells, but that the cells were more responsive to bacteria and other invaders – and that they worked more effectively.
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"We found that the females had around twice as many white blood cells than males which was a huge surprise"</td></tr><tr><td>
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“Crucially, they didn’t release as many of the chemicals that stimulate the immune system response. It’s the release of these mediators that makes you feel lousy when you’re fighting off an infection.”
For all types of illness, the female mice and rats were less sick than the male, the researchers report in the journal Blood. “I believe that the same will be true for people because this is a very ancient part of the mammal’s immune response,” said Dr Scotland.
“Man flu is a bit of a joke, but from what I’m seeing there is a real difference,” she added.
Monday September 19,2011
The male immune system is less effective at fighting off infections than the female system and that means men feel worse when battling illness than women, researchers have shown.
The discovery could explain so-called man flu, where husbands and boyfriends are bed-ridden by colds and bugs that leave women able to soldier on.
Dr Ramona Scotland, of Queen Mary University of London, led a team which studied the immune systems of mice and rats given a host of different infections.
They looked at the white blood cells in the lungs and stomach which act as the body’s first line of defence against infection.
“We found that the females had around twice as many white blood cells than males which was a huge surprise,” she said.
“When we started to look at how these white blood cells behaved we found that not only were there more cells, but that the cells were more responsive to bacteria and other invaders – and that they worked more effectively.
<table style="clear:both;float:none;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td>
"We found that the females had around twice as many white blood cells than males which was a huge surprise"</td></tr><tr><td>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
“Crucially, they didn’t release as many of the chemicals that stimulate the immune system response. It’s the release of these mediators that makes you feel lousy when you’re fighting off an infection.”
For all types of illness, the female mice and rats were less sick than the male, the researchers report in the journal Blood. “I believe that the same will be true for people because this is a very ancient part of the mammal’s immune response,” said Dr Scotland.
“Man flu is a bit of a joke, but from what I’m seeing there is a real difference,” she added.