Male MENopause? Yes You Heard It Right! Male Menopause Exists!You are a man walking through your mid life - fine, happy and successful, yet for some time there has been some internal anomaly in your body and in your mind as well, because of which you are not being able to live your life to the fullest. If lately, you have not been able to assert yourself during consummation with your partner, then you have your hormones to blame. Not only you but a large number of people across the world have been going through these kinds of problems. It is called menopause. Menopause? That too in men! Surprisingly, the recent developments in sciences and medicine have found quite convincing hints that male menopause exists. Grossly, we can say that male menopause is a biological and physiological occurrence generally in the midlife of a man, caused due to weakening of his reproductive and endocrine systems, and which results in sexual dysfunction and in some cases total impotency. In around 40 years, a man starts facing problems like lack of sexual drive, erection and ejaculation problem, sexual frustration and even impotency. There are associated symptoms like lethargy, muscle fatigue, decrease in body mass and working endurance, weakening of bones, abnormal weight gain or loss. Male menopause also causes mental disorders such as depression; lack of concentration and self confidence; irritability; anger; sudden mood swings etc. That is why, male menopause is often said to be more of a psychological disorder and associated with the 'mid life crisis of life'. Menopause in females is a very common phenomenon and has been known to people since centuries. However, this phenomenon in context to men is quite new and unique too. As in female menopause, in males too the level of the male sex hormone testosterone starts declining and it affects the physical and reproductive capabilities of men. However, the final confirmation about male menopause is yet to come, since there has been a prolonged debate regarding the validity of its existence, its causes, symptoms as well as diagnosis and treatment. The topic of male menopause was quite in focus during 1930s to mid 1950s, where many scientific and particularly medical journals were publishing contents that claimed that male menopause exists. Then during 1990s there was a brief halt, when the topic went for a partial hibernation. However, this topic has resurfaced lately and has caused a lot of interest as well as objection that male menopause exists. The similarity with the symptoms and the point of decline in hormonal content, as in female menopause led people to believe that male menopause exists. Like in females, there is about 50% decrease in testosterone hormone secretion in case of males after the age of 50 to 60 years. Various models have been forwarded for understanding and treating male menopause based on the female concept of female menopause. On the other hand, the anti male menopause lobby says that there is no practical evidence of muscle and bone weakness being associated with testosterone level decline. With aging there are associated chronic illnesses like diabetes, artery hardening which effects sexual physiology, so they contend that it might not prove that male menopause exists. Testosterone therapy as suggested by the pro male menopause lobby is also not that effective. The analogy to midlife crisis theory is also debatable. Hence it is for you to decide whether there is anything like male MENopause exists or not. |