Most people are aware of the term menopause (a time in a woman’s life when her period (menstruation) eventually stops, but not many know that males also go through andropause i.e the ‘male menopause’, a similar phenomenon with identical symptoms. RALIAT AHMED explains
Andropause may not be a common term to most people but nearly all men experience its symptoms to some extent, especially after the age of 40. It was first described medically in the 1940s, but was not accepted by the world medical association until recently. Shocking as it may seem, male menopause, or andropause, is becoming more widely recognised and accepted by physicians all over the world.
While menopause is a condition most often associated with women i.e it? occurs in a woman when she stops menstruating and can no longer get pregnant, men on the other hand experience a different type of ‘menopause’ called andropause – a condition that is associated with the decrease in the male hormones testosterone with age. It usually occurs between the ages of 45 and 60 but sometimes as early as age 30. Unlike women, men can continue to father children, but the production of the male sex hormone (testosterone) diminishes gradually with age.
Andropause, the male equivalent of female menopause is generally characterised by a decline in sexuality and energy due to the decreasing level of male hormones, such as testosterone.
Testosterone is the hormone responsible for deep voices, stimulates sexual development in the male infant, bone and muscle growth in adult males, and is responsible for sexual drive muscle mass, and facial and body hair patterns found in males.
As men get older, the level of testosterone in the body and production of sperm gradually decreases which make them experience physical and psychological symptoms as a result of these low levels.???
While the causes of ‘male menopause’ have not been fully researched, studies have shown that some factors such as hormone deficiencies, excessive alcohol consumption, obesity, smoking, hypertension, prescription and non-prescription medications, and psychological problems, especially mid-life depression are known to contribute to this condition, also described as puberty in reverse.
According to medical experts from the age of 40, testosterone levels in men usually begin to drop about one percent a year. The reduction is rarely noticeable in men younger than 60 but by the time men reach their 80s, about half have low testosterone.
In a young agile man ,the testosterone levels exceeding 1000 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dl) while in an old man such as an 80 year old, the average testosterone level is 200 ng/dl.
The following are some symptoms of low testosterone which eventually leads to andropause: diminished sex drive, reduced muscle bulk and strength, night sweats, infertility, fewer spontaneous erections, depression, loss of body hair, shrunken testes, memory loss, sleep problems, increased body fat and anemia and so on.
Dr Mathew Inuwa explains: “Doctors were not aware that these symptoms could be identified and addressed medically until recently. It is an emotional and physical change that most men experience as they age. Andropause presents symptoms similar to menopause in women. However, the male menopause does not affect all men, at least not with the same intensity”.
About 40 % of men between 40 and 60 will experience some degree of depression, increased irritability, mood swings, insomnia, decreased libido, weakness, weight and hair loss and difficulty in attaining and sustaining erections (impotence). This is why andropause is likened to menopause in women because the symptoms mentioned are experienced by women approaching menopause, Inuwa explains further.
The medical practitioner warned that symptoms may be as a result of other physical illnesses and it is therefore, it is very important to consult a doctor to eliminate other causes of the symptoms before concluding that they are the result of male menopause.
He also said that for some of the men affected by this condition, such unanticipated physical and psychological changes could result in a major cause for concern or even crisis. In a situation where you don’t have an understanding partner, these problems may result in combination of anxieties and doubts, which can lead to total impotence and sexual frustration,” he notes.
Inuwa clarified that andropause is different from what women experience during menopause. In the case of women, there is an abrupt change in hormone levels that leads to the end of the reproductive cycle. For men, andropause is most commonly characterised by a steady decrease in the hormone testosterone and very slow progression of symptoms.
Most times, these changes are attributed to the natural and unavoidable consequences of aging and for this reason the symptoms of andropause are often ignored and are considered almost an unavoidable result of the aging process in men, he said.
A recent aging study showed that 51 % of normal, healthy men between the ages of? 40 to 70 experience some degree of impotence – defined as a persistent problem attaining and maintaining an erection rigid enough for sexual intercourse. This problem cannot be attributed to the aging process alone, however, because well over 40 % of males remain sexually active at 70 years of age and beyond. Other factors, notably the co-existence of degenerative or other diseases, may be responsible.