Male Menopause: Is It for Real?

I still remember growing up and being taunted because I threw the ball "like a girl." Most boys have some experience of being shamed for acting in a way that other boys interpreted as "feminine." It's no wonder that years later, men would be slow to accept the idea of "male menopause."

Nevertheless, all men go through a change of life that has a hormonal basis, just as women do. It has been called "andropause," "PADAM" (Partial Androgen Deficiency in the Aging Male) or "ADAM" (Androgen Deficiency in the Adult Male). Whatever we call it, if we're age 40 or older, we must deal with it. Symptoms include irritability, fatigue, erectile dysfunction, and changes in sexual desire.

Although not all clinicians understand male menopause, many are coming to understand the importance of recognizing this significant change of life for men. "The male menopause is a real phenomenon," says Marc Blackman, M.D., chief of endocrinology and metabolism at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, "and it does similar things to men as menopause does to women."

Dr. Malcolm Carruthers is one of the world's leading experts on hormonal changes in men. He has been studying the effects of age-related loss of androgens (male hormones) for over 30 years. In his studies with over 2,000 men conducted over a period of 20 years, he has found that fatigue is present in over 80 percent of the cases, depression is a symptom in 70 percent of the cases, and irritability and anger are problems in over 60 percent of cases.

In his recent text, Androgen Deficiency in the Adult Male: Causes, Diagnosis and Treatment (Taylor & Francis, 2004), he says: "Androgen deficiency in the adult male is far more common than is generally realized, and its prevention and treatment are matters of great medical, social and economic importance. It can either result in the characteristic group of symptoms termed the andropause, or silently and insidiously accelerate the aging process in organs as diverse as the heart, bones and brain."

Nancy Cetel, M.D., has conducted original clinical research in the areas of women's health, menopause and hormone physiology. She has come to see that men, like women, have significant changes in hormone levels as we age. In her book Double Menopause: What to Do When Both You and Your Mate Go Through Hormonal Changes Together (John Wiley & Sons, 2002), she says: "Male menopause has always existed, but only recently has it been acknowledged and given its own identity as andropause. By allowing themselves to accept the notion of a male andropause as universally as they accept female menopause, couples can leave the dark ages of hormonal ignorance."

So, how does a man (or woman) know if he is going through "the change"? I developed a questionnaire which was published in my book Male Menopause. If you would like a copy of the questionnaire, just send an e-mail to me at Jed@MenAlive.com (put "Questionnaire" in the subject line).

Jed Diamond is the author of seven books, including the best seller Male Menopause (Sourcebooks, 1997), which has now been translated into 22 foreign languages, and The Irritable Male Syndrome (Rodale, 2004). He has lent his expertise to such programs as "The View" with Barbara Walters and "Good Morning America" with Charles Gibson. See his Web site at menalive.com for more valuable information on living long and well.