Los Angeles, Dec 4 (IANS): Half of the men are being struck down with illnesses that women wouldn't even mention, says a new research that also revealed that men are more likely to moan about coughs and colds, showing that women have a higher pain threshold.

The study of 2,000 adults found women generally suffer in silence when struck down by bugs or viruses, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

On the other hand, men are far more vocal and often use dramatic language to describe their condition such as "absolute agony", "unbearable" and even "killing me."

According to the research by Superdrug’s Health and Pharmacy, a company that delivers health care products, just under half of the women who took part in the study said they didn’t believe their partner when he claimed to be ill.

Similarly, 52 percent of women believe their other half is frequently struck down by illnesses or injuries they themselves wouldn’t think of mentioning.

Also around half of the women in the study said their partner often mistook a common cold for full blown flu.

"There is no doubt that at this time of year everyone will be coming down with seasonal coughs and colds and some people will cope better than others,” said Mel Wilson, head of Superdrug’s Health and Pharmacy.

"But if the nation’s women are to be believed, men do seem to suffer more with their ailments, or at least suffer more publicly. Whether this is because women aren’t overly sympathetic, or because men generally find it harder to cope is unclear, but the language men are using to describe their ailments is certainly interesting and hints towards a bit of an over exaggeration,” added Wilson.