If someone has not experienced this in their own home, then they must at least have heard of how men have a hard time going through a common cold, let alone the flu. These great, strong guys who don’t care about injuries in the field, not to mention wounds from battle, whine like little children when they catch a cold.
As it turns out, men have reasons for this type of behavior. Their bodies fight infections completely differently and weaker than women’s bodies. There are more molecules in women’s blood that help cells fight infection. And testosterone is to blame for these differences.
The hormone of strength, fitness, aggressiveness and combat – this is how testosterone is commonly thought, which is present in every human body, but in men there is much more. Contrary to appearances, it does not protect men from diseases, and even makes it easier for bacteria and other pathogens to work. As it turns out, men do not tolerate flu or colds much worse – many wives and mothers know that. Their immune system is also less responsive to vaccines. The fact that testosterone negatively affects the amount of antibodies produced in the body has been found in animal and cell culture studies.
This thesis was confirmed by scientists from the Stanford School of Medicine, analyzing the results of influenza vaccination collected over several years. People subjected to cyclic tests had blood composition analyzed before and after vaccination. Women developed much more antibodies after vaccination than men. And men, apart from a small amount of antibodies, also showed increased activity of some genes that participate in the organization of immunity and depend on testosterone. The main group of genes – called Module 52 – was synchronized with testosterone levels and, on the other hand, with antibody levels after vaccination. If there was a lot of testosterone, Module 52 was active and few antibodies appeared. Unfortunately, the matter did not turn out to be simple, because with a small amount of testosterone the gene was not very active, but the level of antibodies was high or low.
Testosterone, further experiments showed, suppressed the activity of a factor that lowered the activity of Module 52 by itself. If these genes were activated, the rapid maturation of cells whose function was to suppress immunity. It is an important system for the body, but such immunity suppression should work anytime and anywhere. In the case of infections, the immune system requires exactly the opposite – a quick and vigorous response, i.e. fighting pathogens.
The researchers concluded that testosterone did not act directly on the vaccine, but on the deeper levels that regulate the body’s immune system. It turns out that separate male vaccines should be developed according to personal testosterone levels.
So far no one can answer the question why nature has weakened men so much. Most of them believe they were created to fight and recover quickly from their wounds. Testosterone is actually useful in fighting for territory, chasing prey, defending your own frontiers, but it no longer helps against the flu or infection after an injury.
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