'Man-flu' tag preventing men from visiting private medical cover provider?

Men could be put off from booking a consultation through their private medical cover provider for fear of being labelled as having 'man-flu', new research suggests.

According to a report by Pfizer, the derogatory term and others like it are actually putting men off from making an appointment to see a doctor when they feel ill.

A poll of 3,000 people found that 52 per cent of males think the term man-flu prevents them taking advice about a legitimate illness while more than 40 per cent said the term was denying them the right to be ill.

This may explain why researchers found that only 55 per cent of men visit their GP once or more a year compared with 72 per cent of women.

More than half of the men polled said they worry about wasting their doctor's time and a large number chose to stay at home even when they had symptoms that could be the early warning signs of serious health problems.

According to menshealthforum.org.uk, men are also more likely to jeopardise their health by taking risks, such as drinking, smoking and taking drugs.

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