Is 'man flu' real? 6 Minute English

Improve your English vocabulary and speaking with 6 Minute English from the BBC.
For a while now, the expression 'man flu' has been controversial. Many men say it's real, while many women say they are just being weak. But why is it that men seem to suffer, or complain, more when they get sick than women do? A recent study may have the answer. Can science prove that men really do suffer more, or do they just moan instead of getting on with it? Dan and Neil teach six items of English vocabulary and discuss the issue.

To download the audio and a transcript, go to our website:

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝟔 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬:
Are you getting enough exercise?

How do you behave in a swimming pool?

How much sugar do you really eat?

Is retail therapy good for you?

Should schoolchildren have jobs?

𝐕𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐲
𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬
a cold (informally)

𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐞
when a person's nose leaks mucus

𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧
continue despite difficulty

𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐥𝐮
the situation where a person, often a man, tends to complain and exaggerate a small illness such as a cold

𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠
complaining repeatedly often in an annoying way

𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬
feelings of illness caused by a disease

Images: GETTY IMAGES

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[juanhumbertocuetocabrejos]

Thanks for the videos BBC, they're all helping me to improve my English.

[letsplayroblox]

Great topic. I came down with a flu many times. I had many symptoms like high temperature, headache and food poisoning. I felt bad. I took some pills and got much better. But one time i came on a flu and i was ill about a few weeks. I didn't have a meal a lot, the main symptom was being weak and no energy. It was hard to do something. I always felt tired. Thanks BBC

[joselago]

These podcasts are perfects to learn english... I hear one everyday. Thank's, BBC!

[asunciondiezarce]

Thanks a lot, for spreading all these videos program so succefully for everyone who wants to learn English language

[열스-of]

always be the best lecture for esl students. Thanks for your service !

[barrontrump]

i get massive joint aches and my fever drains me of all energy and will to move around

[MaryamSh-gyvo]

Hello and Thank you so much . It is definitely useful, pleas help me to improve my english speaking. And I try to find someone who be a native speaker in order to practice english . Best regard Maryam

[simonclarke]

I don’t normally sleep badly tossing turning sweating for 14 hrs and wearing a fleece with heating on.
She won’t go to the shop for sweets and a Beano😢

[trucvunguyen]

Thank you so much for the helpful lesson

[reemsaeed]

Can you write the vocabularies on the screen so we can learn the spelling

[skc]

Please write the words you teach in the description ... It will be very useful

[mirghanihamza]

I when I suffer from sniffles its really about three days😂
I stand with man flu.

[tammytsang]

I have to soldier on so that I can restore my health.

[NhiLe-urmk]

Oh, when I suffer from sniffles is really about over 3 days.

[milanalo]

Dan
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Dan, and joining me today is Neil. Hi Neil.

Neil
Hi, everyone!

Dan
Bless you! Are you ok?

Neil
I think I’m coming down with something serious.

Dan
It’s just a case of the sniffles. 

Neil
The sniffles is an informal way of saying a cold or flu. It comes from the sniffing sound people make when they have a runny nose.

Dan
And a runny nose is when liquid mucus keeps leaking from our nose – usually when we are sick. I’m afraid you’ll just have to soldier on Neil.  

Neil
To soldier on means to continue despite difficulty. I’m dying! What’s it about anyway?

Dan
It’s about ‘man flu’, and whether it’s actually real, or just something men like to complain about. We'll give you 6 words and expressions – and, of course, our quiz question.

Neil
Alright, fire away.

Dan 
In a survey conducted by Nuts magazine that asked its readers how long they took to recover from a cold or flu, where women put an average of 1.5 days, what did men put?

a) 1 day

b) 2 days

c) 3 days

Neil
I’m going to say 3 days. The threat of ‘man flu’ is real.

Dan
Well, we’ll find out later, but let’s clarify. ‘Man flu’ is the tendency that many people believe men have to complain about a minor illness, such as a cold or flu, and act as if they were suffering from something a lot more serious.

Neil
Yes. But science cannot say whether men do actually suffer more than women, or if men just tend to complain more.

Dan
Well, let’s hear from this British couple about whether they think ‘man flu’ is real or not.

Vox
British Man
Men definitely do suffer a lot more, I think, than women do when we get flu.

British Woman
Yeah, I’m not so convinced. I feel like they just complain more.

British Man
It wipes me out.

British Woman
I was ill recently and I just carried on and went to work and everything. And when Chris had got sick recently he was on the sofa and couldn’t really do anything, so…

Dan
And it seems that it’s not just in the UK. Listen to this BBC Journalist interviewing a woman from Europe.

Vox
BBC Journalist
You’re from the Netherlands. Have you ever accused your boyfriend of having man flu?

Dutch woman
Oh, absolutely yes. Yeah.

BBC Journalist
What have you accused him of doing?

Dutch woman
…whining?

Neil
Whining is when someone complains repeatedly and often in an annoying way about something. So, there certainly seems to be something there…but nothing has been proven, right?

Dan
Well, a recent scientific study has indicated that there could be something to ‘man flu’ after all. Doctor Kyle Sue, an assistant professor of family medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, has suggested that there could be a difference between men and women when it comes to respiratory diseases.

Neil
Respiratory meaning related to breathing. He says that there was already a lot of evidence from existing studies suggesting men experience worse, longer-lasting symptoms.

Dan
Symptoms are the feelings of illness caused by a disease. Listen to him explain why this is.

Doctor Kyle Sue,
Memorial University, Newfoundland
It seems that the higher the testosterone levels, the lower the immune response to these types of infections, whereas the higher the oestrogen level, the stronger the immune response.

Neil
Testosterone and oestrogen are hormones that exist in both men and women. Testosterone is higher in males and oestrogen is higher in females. Dr. Sue’s research suggests that the more oestrogen a person has, the better able they are to fight off the infection. That’s it then! Man flu is real!

Dan
Hold your horses, Neil. There are two problems. First of all, the Royal college of GPs in the UK says that there is no such thing as ‘man flu’. And secondly, even Dr Sue admits that these results, including his own, are only ‘suggestive’ and are not ‘definitive’.

Neil
So, basically he’s saying that there is a suggestion that ‘man flu’ exists, but the evidence so far cannot say for sure.

Dan
Exactly. More studies need to be done. But you know what we can be sure about? The answer to this week’s quiz question. I asked you in a survey conducted by Nuts magazine that asked its readers how long they took to recover from a cold or flu, where women put an average of 1.5 days, what did men put?

a) 1 day

b) 2 days

c) 3 days

Neil
And I said 3 days.

Dan
And you were right!

Neil
Good!

Dan
The men said they took twice as long to recover!

Neil
It must be all that manly testosterone. Let’s review our vocabulary, shall we? 

Dan
Our first was the sniffles. If you have the sniffles, you have a cold, informally speaking. What's the best cure for the sniffles Neil?

Neil
Stay in bed and sweat it out, my mum always said. Just make sure you have lots of tissues to deal with your runny nose. That’s when a person’s nose leaks mucus, usually because they are ill. Yuck!

Dan
Next we had soldier on. This phrasal verb means to continue despite difficulty. When was the last time you had to soldier on, Neil?

Neil
A few days ago when I went the whole day without eating any lunch! Then we had ‘man flu’. That’s is the name given to the situation where a person, often a man, tends to complain and exaggerate a small illness such as a cold. Do you do that, Dan?

Dan
I’m sure my wife would say I do! Next we had whining. If you whine, you complain repeatedly and often in an annoying way. 

Neil
Like my children did last time I didn’t buy them ice-cream. And finally we had symptoms. These are the feelings of illness caused by a disease. What are the symptoms of flu, Dan?

Dan
A headache, aching muscles, and a fever. And that’s the end of this 6 Minute English! Don’t forget to check out our YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. There you made it. You can collapse now. 

Neil
Bye.

Dan
Bye!

[netham]

sorry, is the man in the picture Dan???

[marcepinillos]

When men and women grow older, particularly after menopause, testosterone levels between sexes tend to grow equal and estrogen levels in women plummet. Yet, women consistently recover quicker from and complain less of the average flu. I don't believe men's harsher symptoms should be simply dismissed but there's must be much more than hormones to it.

[PhuongHoang-xzyl]

Hi guys. I really want to improve english. Please, Can you help me.

[merikpolymer]

Dan's voice is so delicious...drive me crazy