Manopause

Manopause?

Looking Into Andropause and the Low T Factor

By Teri Brown

The treatments for low T vary. Some men see marked improvement with testosterone replacement therapy while others get a placebo effect at best. Dr. Lipshultz believes that improving your own health with diet and exercise is an important component to battling low T. Not only does exercise slightly increase testosterone levels, but it also decreases body fat, which changes testosterone to estrogen.

"This change in the estrogen/testosterone ratio can cause symptoms quite similar to low testosterone by itself," says Dr. Lipshultz. "Therefore, leading a healthy lifestyle, increasing exercise and decreasing body fat can only help the situation of low testosterone."

So while the debate over male menopause continues, relief may come from the same thing experts have been telling us for years: Eating right and exercising will help you feel better no matter what your age or condition.

Rodale Press, 2004), believes that andropause is a condition that encompasses both the psychological and the physical. "Andropause, also called male menopause, begins with hormonal, physiological and chemical changes that occur in all men, generally between the ages of 40 and 55, though it can occur as early as 35 or as late as 65," says Diamond. "These changes affect all aspects of a man's life. Andropause is, thus, a physical condition with psychological, interpersonal, social and spiritual dimensions."

In 1995, while doing research for his first book, Male Menopause, Diamond found there was only anecdotal evidence to support the idea that andropause existed. Since then, research on the effects of low testosterone and the psychological effects of aging are showing that what our culture calls male menopause may be a very real condition.

"My book documented research from around the world to support the belief that men were being under-diagnosed and under-treated," says Diamond. "In the years after Male Menopause was published, an increasing number of professionals in the field have come to accept andropause as a real condition."

The Problem With the Low T Theory

It is somewhat misleading to use the terms menopause and andropause as if they mean the same thing. In women, the ovaries abruptly shut down production of hormones. In men, there is a gradual decline in testosterone levels. In fact, testosterone levels decrease 1 percent per year, starting when men are in their 30s.

The problem with linking low T to a sort of male menopause is that while we know that all women will go though menopause, not all men will go through andropause and no one knows why. The testosterone levels in many men do not decrease significantly enough to cause typical low T symptoms. Another fact to consider is that there are many conditions and behaviors that can cause low T besides aging, such as obesity, drug or alcohol abuse, stress, medications or depression.

Yet many men still go through a "midlife crisis" that some link to andropause. Dr. Larry Lipshultz, professor of urology and the director of male reproductive medicine and surgery for Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, believes that while low testosterone levels may be responsible for some of the psychological symptoms of andropause, it cannot explain all of them.

"I think that midlife crisis mainly refers to a time in a man's life when he is feeling indecisive about his self worth, the significance of his job and the relationship with his family," says Dr. Lipshultz.

While Dr. Lipshultz believes that this insecurity can be increased by an unstable environment, he would not describe these symptoms as being fully due to low T. "It is something that may happen concurrently, at the same time in a man's life, though not necessarily a cause and effect relationship," says Dr. Lipshultz.