What Is Male Menopause: Facts, Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatments

What is Male Menopause?

An increasing number of men are having concerns about a decline in hormones during mid-life, as a result the words “andropause” and “male menopause” are starting to be seen everywhere. It used to be called a “mid-life crisis”. A more accurate label is the term male menopause, for the sometimes distressful and very real condition. Men are relieved that it is no longer called a silly crisis; there are a number of reasons for the decline that occur mid-life.

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Some physicians refer to the problem as testosterone or androgen decline in men as they are aging since there is not a period that is well defined and referred to as menopause.  It is also known as low testosterone. The production of testosterone declines as men begin aging but diabetes and other conditions can cause the decline in the male hormone production.

The decline in testosterone that is experienced, can come with some symptoms including:

• Depression
• Fatigue
• Sexual problems
• Weakness

The difference from female menopause is that the decline in testosterone that men experience happens slowly. In women the production of hormones stops completely. The substance that is needed to produce testosterone is not depleted entirely from the testes, unlike with the ovaries. Men that are healthy could be able to produce sperm well past their eighties.

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There may be subtle changes that occur in the testes from the ages of forty-five to fifty years of age, and after the age of seventy some men may experience dramatic changes.

How Is Male Menopause Diagnosed?

There are some things that the doctor will do to diagnose male menopause.

• Question you about symptoms
• A physical exam will be performed
• Rule out medical problems that could contribute to the condition by ordering tests
• Order blood tests. These tests may involve measuring testosterone levels.

Can Male Menopause Be Treated?

Testosterone replacement therapy might provide some relief to the symptoms of low levels of testosterone.

• Fatigue
• Depression
• Decreased libido (loss of interest in sex)
• Morning erections decrease
• Sexual intercourse frequency declines
• Testicular and genital size decreases
• Body fat increases
• Memory loss
• Changes in mood
• Vagueness
• Gynaecomastia (enlarged nipples)

There is the potential for side effects and risks with testosterone replacement therapy just like there is with the therapy for replacing hormones in women. An example would be that prostate cancer could be made worse by the testosterone replacement.

Speak with a doctor to learn more when considering replacement therapy for androgen. There may be lifestyle or other changes recommended by your doctor to aid with the male menopause symptoms. These could include:

• Antidepressant or other medications
• Diet
• Program for exercise

Alternative Male Menopause Treatments

• Vitamin C
• Zinc
• Exercise
• Multi-mineral supplement
• Multi-vitamin supplement
• Soy
• Vegetables that contain indole- (brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage)
• Ayurvedic herbal remedies
• Grapefruit should be avoided
• Alcohol should be avoided
• Ayurvedic dietary changes

Before you use a complementary or alternative treatment, or make changes or stop any treatment in favor of alternative approaches, you should check with your doctor or another qualified medical professional. In some cases, alternative treatments can pose a danger while in others the preventives or treatments might be useful.
Tammy Mahan has been a nurse for 20 years. In her free time she works as a freelance medical/health writer for Healthline.com.

Heart Failure Accelerates Male Menopause

Heart failure accelerates the aging process and brings on early andropausal syndrome (AS), according to research presented today at the Heart Failure Congress 2013. AS, also referred to as male ‘menopause’, was four times more common in men with heart failure.

The Heart Failure Congress is the main annual meeting of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology and is being held 25-28 May in Lisbon, Portugal.

As men get older they are more likely to suffer from andropausal syndrome (AS), also called ‘menopause’, androgen deficiency in the aging male (ADAM), or late-onset hypogonadism. Men with AS have decreased levels of anabolic hormones, including testosterone, and it has been suggested that these hormone deficiencies are what cause the clinical symptoms.

The symptoms of AS according to the Aging Male Symptom Rating Scale can be divided into three categories: sexual (erectile dysfunction, problems with libido, decrease in beard growth, feelings of ‘having passed the zenith of life’), psychological (feeling discouraged, depressed, irritable, anxious, nervous), and somato-vegetative (joint and muscle complaints, sweating, need for more sleep, sleep disturbances, weakness, exhaustion).

Heart failure increases with age. Deficiencies of anabolic hormones are common in men with systolic heart failure, leading to reduced exercise capacity, depression and poor prognosis. But until now the impact of heart failure on the prevalence of AS and the severity of andropausal symptoms has not been studied.

Professor Ewa A. Jankowska (Wroclaw, Poland) said: “AS leads to poor quality of life. We wanted to discover whether heart failure increases AS and whether additional androgen therapies could improve quality of life in heart failure patients.”

For the study, the researchers compared the prevalence of AS and the severity of andropausal symptoms between 232 men with systolic heart failure aged 40-80 years and 362 age-matched healthy peers. The magnitude of andropausal symptoms (psychological, sexual and somato-vegetative) was assessed using the Aging Males’ Symptoms (AMS) Rating Scale and AS was diagnosed if the total AMS score was 50 points or more.

They found that AS affected almost one-third of men with heart failure, regardless of their age group. In men aged 40-59 years, heart failure led to a four-fold increase in the prevalence of AS (28% vs. 7%, p<0.001) and an increase in the severity of sexual and somato-vegetative andropausal symptoms (p<0.001). Men aged 60-80 years with and without heart failure had a similar prevalence of AS and severity of andropausal symptoms. Among men with systolic heart failure, the prevalence of AS was similar in both age groups (40-59 and 60-80 years).

The authors concluded that heart failure accelerates the natural process of aging and favors early onset of AS. Professor Jankowska said: “Heart failure leads to anabolic hormone deficiencies at a relatively young age and thereby accelerates male aging and the development of AS. These patients have poor quality of life and need endocrinological and sexual counseling.

It has been suggested that the anabolic hormone deficiencies in heart failure could be caused by heart failure treatments, which could affect the metabolism of hormones, or comorbidities, which might impair endocrine gland function. But in a second abstract (61271) the research group found few and weak associations between the presence of anabolic deficiencies, comorbidities and therapies in men with systolic heart failure. Professor Jankowska said: “This shows that it is the heart failure itself which impacts on the functioning of the endocrine glands.”
She concluded: “Further research is needed to determine whether androgen supplementation can reduce the severity of andropausal symptoms.

Source - http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112857345/heart-failure-accelerates-male-menopause/