Have you ever wondered if men go through male menopause, also known as andropause? You're not alone.
The short answer?
Yes.
The long answer?
Definitely yes. It is just different from the traditional menopause women experience.
The hormones in men do change, and they can decrease with age and other factors, such as stress and obesity. The androgen hormone DHEA converts into testosterone, which then goes through a process called “aromatization” to become estrogen.
Men do need some estrogen. They also need a little bit of progesterone, just not at the same levels as females.
Progesterone levels tend to follow testosterone levels — but not always. If a man’s progesterone declines, he may experience mood swings such as depression, weight gain and lower libido.
When testosterone starts to plummet, he will notice lack of motivation, lack of desire for hobbies, act more irritable, have a lower sex drive, find difficulty with erections, lose muscle mass, and have foggy thinking. If that testosterone over-converts into estrogen, he’ll feel weepy and emotional, gain weight in the abdomen, and develop breasts.
These symptoms of hormone imbalance and decline can occur at any age, however the most common age for these to really stand out are at age 40 and older. The reason for this is that testosterone is thought to decrease by about 1% or more per year, starting around 30 years of age.
Therefore by the time a man hits his 50th birthday, his testosterone is down by about 20 percent. This process can be sped up through poor dietary choices, obesity, insulin problems, high stress over the long term, and certain medications.
It is well known and accepted that women go through menopause and as a result, there are thousands of books, websites, conferences, and educational pieces to help with this transition.
Andropause, on the other hand, is only recently starting to become understood and accepted. Men may not know to talk about this with their health care provider or realize the impact their stress and weight gain is having on their hormones.
Diagnosis usually begins with a visit to the health care provider in order to better assess the symptoms. Next, lab work is done to properly evaluate all the hormones (progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, and sex hormone binding globulin) plus adrenal, thyroid, and blood sugar studies.
"Prior to therapy with testosterone, a man's risk of prostate cancer must be assessed using, as a minimum, digital rectal examination (DRE) and determination of serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA)," stated Dr. Parminder Singh, Division of Endocrinology, 3rd Floor, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Tagore Nagar, Ludhiana, Punjab, India in his article on NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov.
Options for treatment vary and do not always require testosterone replacement, which is a concern and fear for many men. Those men who choose testosterone replacement will be happy to know that there are injections, pellets, creams, and sublingual versions available now.
If the man in your life is experiencing some of these symptoms, or you are male and resonate with this article, talk with your health care provider today and get the appropriate work up. Take charge of your health!
Sources:
1) Khosravi, S., Ardebilli, H., Larijani, B., Nedjat, S., Nikbakht, A., Ardebili, M., Dabiran, S., and Samizadeh, E. (2015). Are andropause symptoms related to depression? Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25762159
2) Singh, P. (2013). Andropause: Current concepts. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4046605
Reviewed June 22, 2015
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith