Male menopause? Yes, it’s real

[sandance2]

Is there really such a thing as "male menopause"? Conventional wisdom says that menopause is a "woman's condition," but as men advance into their 40s they also experience a progressive decline in hormone levels, namely testosterone. The result can be andropause, which is estimated to affect about 5 million American men. The hormonal decline that men experience isn't nearly as abrupt as it is in women — it's more like walking down a hill than jumping off a cliff. However, waning testosterone is likely to make a guy moody, irritable and depressed. A decrease in available testosterone also increases a man’s risk for heart disease, and makes him more prone to injury because of decreasing bone density. Andropause is a medical condition, diagnosed with a blood test by a physician that reveals testosterone levels below a certain level. If a diagnosis of andropause is warranted, treatment with testosterone replacement may be an option, depending on a man’s health history. Just as there are various hormone replacement therapies for women, there's also testosterone replacement therapy for men — and research is still ongoing into potential side effects.

[luv_2_laugh]

I guess we really do learn something new everyday because I had never heard of this. I knew men's testosterone levels decrease with age but I didn't know it caused or could cause "male menopause". Can you imagine going through menopause at the same time as your spouse. LOL My husband and I already share the same birth month and our sign is "cancer". I can just see it now, him and I in a ring with our boxing gloves on taking our moody, irritable selfs out on eachother. LOL