Andropause & The Testosterone Factor
Andropause or “Male Menopause” is a recognized medical condition brought about by declining testosterone or male hormone levels. The World Health Organization reports that Testosterone levels progressively decline with age. By age 70 they are about 10 percent of what they were at 25. It is estimated that 30 percent of men in their 50s will have Testosterone levels low enough to be causing symptoms or putting them at risk.
Andropause is the decline of Testosterone levels, also know as Hypogonadism or Hypogonadal, and it is a normal part of aging, it may be accompanied by a gradual decline in sexuality, mood, and overall energy and can cause serious health risks. By the time men are between the ages of 40 and 55 they can experience Andropause.
Man experience gradual physical changes such as loss of muscle mass and increased fat mass which may be accompanied by changes n attitude and mood, the onset of fatigue and loss of energy, sex drive and physical agility. Often concentration and sleep are adversely affected as well.
This decline in Testosterone can also put men at risk for other health problems like cardiovascular disease and Osteoporosis. This timing of Andropause can also coincide with a mid-life crisis and make matters worse psychologically. Unlike menopause, which generally occurs in women during their mid-forties to mid-fifties, Testosterone decline in men may be much more gradual.
Many factors can contribute to the development of Andropause including mental attitude, degree of psychological stress, alcohol use, trauma or surgery, prescription and over the counter medications, obesity, and infections. Although with age, a decline in Testosterone levels will occur in all men, there is no way of predicting who will experience Andropauseal symptoms or at what age symptoms will occur.
Why Men Get Andropause
As men age, their ability to produce Testosterone declines. Lutenizing Hormone is responsible for triggering the Leydig cells to create Testosterone. The aging process lowers levels of this very important hormone. As LH lowers, a protein called the sex hormone binding protein increases. SHBG brings up and holds onto Testosterone, making it unable to be utilized. This lowers the free (available) amount of Testosterone in the blood.
Bound Testosterone cannot be utilized by the body. Studies have shown that men with low Testosterone levels tend to have lean muscle mass, more abdominal obesity, depression and in some cases erectile dysfunction.
Another problem associated with low Testosterone is an increase in Estrone. Estrone is considered to be a harmful derivative of the female hormone Estradiol. Estrone is linked to female breast cancer, male breast cancer (yes, men are capable of having breast cancer), prostate cancer and type 2 diabetes. Many times when Testosterone is low, Estrone becomes the more dominant hormone. High Estrone levels in men usually attribute to excess fat in the abdomen and breast area.
There are medications available that can significantly reduce high Estrone. A lot of times these medications can also trigger the release of the bound Testosterone to a free state once again making this the more dominant hormone once again. If indicated, Testosterone replacement is also an alternative as well as Lutenizing Hormone to restore production. These types of medications can significantly improve muscle mass libido, and body fat reduction.
Diagnosis
Andropause has been under diagnosed until recently. Andropause was first described in medical literature in the 1940s but was not commonly diagnosed until more sensitive tests for Testosterone were available. With increasing life spans in general there is more interest in Andropause and in improving quality of life.
Another reason why Andropause has been under diagnosed over the eyars is that symptoms can be vague. Also some find it difficult to admit that they have a problem. In addition physicians didn’t always think of low-Testosterone levels as a cause of men’s symptoms so patients were often told they were depressed or just getting older. It is unfortunate when this happens since these symptoms can impact their quality of life and may expose them to other, longer-term risks of low-Testosterone.
New blood testing methods are available and there is increased interest in men’s aging among medical researchers. In fact, so much attention is being focused on Andropause that major efforts are underway to quickly share emerging scientific information with physician’s world wide.
Testosterone is an important hormone that has powerful effects on man’s body. Produced in the testes and in the adrenal glands, Testosterone helps build protein, is essential for normal sexual behavior, and affects man metabolic activities such as production of blood cells, bone formation, lipid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, liver function and prostate gland growth. There is great variability in Testosterone levels amount health men, so not all will experience the same changes to the same extent. But typical responses to low bioavailable Testosterone levels include:
- Low Sex Drive
- Emotional, Psychological and behavioral changes
- Decreased muscle mass
- Loss of muscle strength
- Increased central body fat
- Osteoporosis
- Cardiovascular risk
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