Male Menopause : It's Very Real!

Menopause - Symptoms - Nutritional - Supplements - Information - Womens Health - Natural Products

Male menopause is a phenomenon that has only recently been discovered. This is despite the fact that it has been known for centuries that women go through menopause.

Even though the symptoms of male menopause are different than the symptoms of menopause that women experience, male menopause or andropause actually does exist.

The word "andropause" is defined as the "natural cessation of the sexual function in older men." Andropause also refers to sexual regression in men over 40 due to dropping male hormone levels.

For men, the development of male menopause is more gradual than that experienced by women, but it's just as real.

Like women, male menopause is caused by a decline in hormones.

Male hormones are testosterone, thyroid, human growth hormone (HGH) and DHEA. So, male menopause involves the hormonal, physiological and chemical changes that occur in all men generally between the ages of 40 and 55.

Male menopause in general is thus a physical condition with psychological, interpersonal, social and spiritual implications.

The subject of Male Menopause has been steeped in confusion and controversy. While women were accused of going through middle-age crises and menopause-related physical and psychological difficulties, men got away with propagating the myth of the "ageless male," and boasted of virility all the way to their graves.

But the truth is that Male Menopause is a distinct physiological phenomenon that is in many ways akin to, yet in some ways quite different from, Menopause in women.

The purpose of Male Menopause is to signal the end of First Adulthood and prepare men for Second Adulthood, and the initial signs often involve changes in a man's sexuality.

Testosterone is a critical hormone for men. It is involved in libido, the desire for sexual activity, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Testosterone helps to maintain the male body. It is important to mental aptitude, bone density and healthy weight.

Normally men begin to lose about one percent of testosterone per year beginning at age 40. Most don't have serious symptoms, but for some men their levels sink so low that their entire lives are affected.

It often takes a man's wife or girlfriend to see the difference, because a man is not able to step back and see the impact of lethargy, fatigue, diminished libido and depression for himself.

If a man has low testosterone his muscle mass is going to diminish, his fat adipose tissue is going to increase and he subsequently is at risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other medical problems associated with male menopause and these conditions.

Learn more about the symptoms of male menopause...