by

Joseph

Flu vaccines effect men and women diffrently, new research suggests. According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, for reasons not yet understood, scientists have learned that women respond better to influenza vaccine than men.

Lead study author David Furman of Stanford University and colleagues looked at the responses that 53 women and 34 men of varying ages had after receiving flu vaccinations. The scientists observed that women took to the flu vaccine much better than men. Scientists also noted that men with the highest levels of testosterone had the weakest immunity to the flu.

Furman and his colleagues discovered a gene cluster that was activated by testosterone correlated with men being less successful in neutralizing the flu virus than women. They reasoned that testosterone lowered men's antibody response to the influenza vaccine. 

Although the research didn't explain why there is a gender difference in immunity to the flu vaccine, Furman and his colleagues did concluded by saying "These results demonstrate a strong association between androgens and genes involved in lipid metabolism, suggesting that these could be important drivers of the differences in immune responses between males and females."

Should researchers choose to pursue this line of study, it could provide better ways to combat disease in both sexes.

Do not fear anything in this world, God is in control of everything in creation. Nothing can happen or does happen unless He allows it.

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Article Reference

Furman D, Hejblum BP, Simon N, Jojic V, Dekker CL, Thiébaut R, Tibshirani RJ, & Davis MM (2013). Systems analysis of sex differences reveals an immunosuppressive role for testosterone in the response to influenza vaccination. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America PMID: 24367114

"Flu Vaccine Works Better In Women Than In Men, Researchers Say" copyright © 2013 Living Fit, Healthy and Happy_(SM). All Rights Reserved.

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