Yes, it is true that males also experience menopause. But why it is still not discussed so commonly? Let us go a little deeper into this topic.
Male menopause or andropause is the term used when males have reduced level of hormone testosterone due to hormonal changes because of aging. However, this is a completely different situation from that of menopause in women. The reason that male menopause is not discussed so commonly is that in females, the ovulation is completely ended at menopause but in males the hormone testosterone production is decreased gradually. The onset in males start as early as once you cross the age of 30 and decreases by 1-2 percent every year.
There are many factors that affect the level of testosterone in males such as obesity, diabetes mellitus type 2, kidney disease and infections. Most of the males are not even aware that low levels of testosterone can affect their health. When the male patients come with the complain of feeling tired, having sexual concerns, unable to concentrate and are diagnosed with low levels of hormone testosterone, they are mostly surprised.
It is important to detect it early on as low levels of testosterone can mask other more serious conditions like hypogonadism which is caused by genetic, testicular problems and autoimmune conditions. Hypogonadism causes can cause quite severe symptoms such as decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, decreased volume of ejaculate, weakness, decreased bone density, decreased lean body mass, increased body fat and anemia.
Even if the symptoms of female menopause and male andropause are quite similar, the symptoms of andropause in males is diagnosed as hypogonadism or low levels of the hormone testosterone. When a patient comes in first, we do a proper consultation and physical assessment along with asking more about his lifestyle. If it appears that the patient has not been taking good care of himself lately, we encourage him to maintain a balanced diet, a stress-free environment and slowly eliminate the root cause of the imbalanced hormones.
For the treatment of imbalance hormones in male, it is always important to use a holistic approach to eliminate the cause of the hormonal imbalance from all aspects. Also, we can use other treatment options depending on the type and severity of the hormonal imbalance in everyone such as transdermal testosterone gel, transdermal testosterone cream, micronized testosterone, and many other forms of bioidentical hormonal therapy.
The fact is that to keep the hormone balanced in our bodies is as vital in males as in females. We need to start encouraging the males in our lives to keep a check on themselves and if they start experiencing any symptoms, they should visit their primary care doctors as prevention is the key.
