Andropause and human growth hormone therapy
Up til now, most of the articles here have been about human growth hormone, physicians who prescribe it, and what it does for the process of anti-aging. This article is going to focus on an interesting term that encompasses these concepts, that being the study of andropause, or the “male menopause.”
What is Andropause?
By the time men are between the ages of 40 and 55, they can experience a phenomenon similar to the female menopause, called andropause. Unlike women, men do not see a clear line, such as the stopage of menstruation to mark this change. Both, however, are distinguished by a drop in hormone levels. Estrogen in the female, testosterone in the male. The bodily changes happen over time in men and are manifested by changes in attitudes and moods, fatigue, a loss of energy, sex drive and physical agility.
What’s more, studies show that this decline in testosterone can actually put one at risk for other health problems like heart disease and weak bones. Since all this happens at a time of life when many men begin to question their values, accomplishments and direction in life, it’s often difficult to realise that the changes occurring are related to more than just external conditions.
A gradual hormonal decline
Unlike menopause, which generally occurs in women during their mid-forties to mid-fifties, men’s “transition” may be much more gradual and expand over many decades. Attitude, psychological stress, alcohol, injuries or surgery, medications, obesity and infections can contribute to its onset.
Although with age, a decline in testosterone levelswill occur in virtually all men, there is no way of predicting who will experience andropausal symptoms of sufficient severity to seek medical help. Neither is it predictable at what age symptoms will occur in a particular individual. Each man’s symptoms may be also different.
Is this a new phenomenon?
Yes and no. In fact, andropause was first described in medical literature in the 1940’s. So it’s not really new. But, our ability to diagnose it properly is. Sensitive tests for bio-available testosterone weren’t available until recently, so andropause has gone through a long period where it was under-diagnosed and under-treated. Now that men are living longer, there is heightened interest in andropause and this will help to advance our approach to this important life stage which was identified so long ago.
Increased diagnostic capability
Another reason why andropause has been under-diagnosed over the years is that symptoms can be vague and can vary a lot among individuals. Some men find it difficult to admit that there’s even a problem. And often physicians didn’t always think of low-testosterone levels as a possible culprit. So these factors often led doctors to conclude that symptoms were related to other medical conditions (i.e. depression) or were simply related to ageing and often encouraged their patients to accept that “they were no longer spring chickens”.
This situation is changing. New blood testing methods are available and there is an increased interest in mens’ ageing among medical researchers. So much attention is being focused on andropause that major efforts are underway to quickly share emerging scientific information with the international medical community.
Many physicians are now on-board with male anti-aging technology and prescribe hormone replacement therapy, such as human growth hormone, to combat the effects of andropause.