The Myth of Male Menopause?
Men face physical challenges as they get older due to fluctuations in the levels of certain hormones, particularly testosterone. Testosterone is critical to a man’s ability to enjoy a vital and sexually active lifestyle.
Produced primarily in the testes, testosterone regulates a man’s sex drive, enables him to build muscle mass, and has an impact on his strength, bone density, production of red blood cells and distribution of fat.
In severe cases, the aging male’s diminished capacity to produce testosterone is called andropause; this condition is sometimes misleadingly referred to as male menopause. However, there are few similarities between menopause and the constellation of symptoms that can affect men who have dramatically reduced levels of testosterone, although both begin to manifest themselves during mid-life.
A major difference is the fact that andropause occurs gradually, because reductions in testosterone levels generally occur at a rate of only about 1% per year after age 30.