Known medically as Andropause, humorously termed "man-o-pause" or "Low T," this is the male equivalent to a women's menopause. Often dismissed as a "midlife crisis" or simply the result of aging, it is medical consensus that men also undergo very significant physical and emotional changes around the same time in their lives as women undergo menopause. The difference between men and women is in women, it is more easy to recognize the change due to abrupt loss of menstruation, whereby with men the changes are slower and more subtle, making it a tad more elusive to identify in men for men have no menses. It is true that testosterone levels in men generally decline 1%-1.5% every year after age 35, with symptoms becoming more noticeable in the 40's and especially by their 50's. As men come into middle age they may experience fatigue, mood changes, decrease in libido/sex drive, hair loss, weight gain around the mid-section, enlargement of breast size, poorer sleep, urinary difficulties, which can all be due to the changing climate of a man's hormones. Low testosterone, altered testosterone metabolism, cortisol depletion, and estrogen increase all come with the turf of "Low T," a change that can be slowed, reversed, or replenished with herbs, clinical nutrition, and pharmaceutical interventions when indicated. The results are a return of energy, regain of sex drive, impeded hair loss, improvement of body/fat composition, better prostate health, easier to maintain muscle mass, and better recovery from exercise.
Symptoms of Andropause can vary, but can include:
- Reduced energy and brain fog
- Mood changes such as irritability, anxiousness and depression, or what Dr. Lemley terms: "the grumpy old man syndrome."
- Decrease in motivation or desire to do things previously found fun, and decreased ability to perform work
- Sleep disturbances
- Increased body fat around the midsection, weight gain, increases in cholesterol
- Difficulty recovering from exercise
- Reduced muscle mass
- Reduced desire for sexual activity and loss of libido
- Erectile dysfunction
- Urinary changes such as difficulty initiating or maintaining a stream, frequency, or urgency with urination, nighttime urination
- Hot flashes and night sweats
- Bone loss such as osteopenia and osteoporosis
Part of Dr. Lemley's mission is to change the stigma around specific elements associated with aging in men. Sometimes, this is a medical condition that requires a specific diagnosis and a prescribed course of treatment. The aging process for men can be just as uncomfortable, depressing, and foreign to men as it can be to women. Sometimes, it can even be more difficult to deal with, since women expect to experience menopause (thus making it a more normal topic of conversation), while men rarely expect to experience symptoms of aging and thus have fewer resources to look to.
If feeling any of these symptoms and would like to discuss ways to treat them in an integrative and holistic manner from a hormonal expert, contact the Bridger Natural Medicine Clinic to find out more information on treatment or to set up a 10-minute consultation.
