bjones
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Some scientists and doctors are still debating the existence of male menopause. Most of the medical community, however, agrees that male menopause, while very different from female menopause, does exist. Male menopause was once dismissed as midlife crisis. Scientific research has shown that these midlife crises in men aged 40 to 55 may have a physical cause. Since the term menopause is strictly defined as the halting of a woman’s menstrual cycle, a new term for male menopause was deemed necessary – andropause.
Women are born with a fixed amount of eggs that are released during ovulation each month until the supply is exhausted. When this occurs, a woman is no longer able to produce eggs, so their menstrual cycle halts. As a result, their hormone production changes which has some side-effects. Men do not have a menstrual cycle and can remain fertile long past the age which most women have experienced menopause, but it has been shown that older men have decreased levels of the male hormone, testosterone. This drop in testosterone is andropause, and doctors estimate that 25 million men in the U.S. are currently experiencing its side effects. These side effects include depression, decreased sex drive, loss of energy, and impotence. Another difference between menopause and andropause is that hormone changes occur very rapidly in menopause, within a couple of months. This makes the side effects much stronger and more noticeable in women. The onset of andropause is very gradual and it can take years of testosterone loss for symptoms to slowly set in. By the time the symptoms develop, it seems to be for no reason, which leads to confusion.
Treatment for andropause is mostly symptomatic, which means each symptom is treated as a separate condition. Some doctors have experimented with testosterone replacement therapy to heighten hormone levels until symptoms are alleviated. Testosterone replacement therapy, though, is not without its risks. The treatment has been linked to prostate cancer, stroke, breast development, and decreased sperm production. Because of this, testosterone replacement is recommended only when symptoms severely affect quality of life.
 Posted 5166 day ago
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