• Question: which gender fights disease better, girls or boys?

    Asked by louisanana13 to Lyn, Katy, Paul, PB, Ruth on 20 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Peter Balfe

      Peter Balfe answered on 20 Jun 2013:

      Girls last longer, so I guess they win.

    • Photo: Katy Brown

      Katy Brown answered on 20 Jun 2013:

      It depends on the disease. Women have stronger immune systems, on average, so they deal better with infectious diseases caused by bacteria and viruses. This is because of a female hormone, oestrogen, affects how the immune system works.

    • Photo: Paul Waines

      Paul Waines answered on 20 Jun 2013:

      Girls generally live longer than boys, plus they don’t suffer with such bad colds as we men do (according to my wife)

    • Photo: Ee Lyn Lim

      Ee Lyn Lim answered on 21 Jun 2013:

      Yes, girls tend to be stronger against infectious diseases, if only by just a little! I’m not sure why myself, but Katy’s probably got it right.

    • Photo: Ruth Mitchell

      Ruth Mitchell answered on 23 Jun 2013:

      Yay! girls win!! The stronger immune systems might also be because women have to deal with not rejecting a foetus – which is quite a feat!

Comments