Andropause

Andropause is one of my least favorite words. It’s really just a polite way of saying “male menopause” and it implies death to everything I hold dear as a male: romance, sex and that energy, vitality and controlled aggression that comes with being a member of my gender.

The “andro” in andropause refers to the gradual decline in male sex hormones, androgens, that all males will experience. The loss of testosterone, for example, follows almost a straight line for several decades after the peak at age 25-30. The average male will lose a little over a percent a year from the age of 25-30 resulting in a 50-60% decline in his testosterone levels by the age of 65.

The typical male will also feel the onset of this decline when his levels start to dip below about 500. Research shows that testosterone levels are closely tied to mental state and so, as T-levels fall, anxiety and depression often increase. This is not surprising considering that testosterone is intimately linked to serotonin production. Even worse, research shows that depression and anxiety will further decrease T-levels. So a vicious cycle is easily begun.

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All of this is just the beginning though: the typical male will also begin to experience, at least to one degree or another, decreased libido and increased erectile issues. Testosterone is essential for both. A flagging libido coupled with a few “poor performances” in the bedroom and you have a humiliated and desperate male – the stuff of which mid life crises are made of. Then throw in a few struggling or failed relationships, job and financial stress and in some cases poor health and, well, you’ve got a rapid downward spiral initiated. If you’ve been there, you know what I’m talking about.

Another big problem is a tissue accumulation of the female hormone estrogen.  Researchers have discovered this in the prostate, for example. [1]  In fact, that same study concluded that "the prostatic accumulation of DHT, estradiol, and estrone is in part intimately correlated with aging".  Estradiol and estrone are two forms of estrogen, neither of which do you want accumulating in your tissues. Gynocomastic, or "man boobs" is another example of a male problem with too much estrogen in his tissues. In other words, male menopause or andropause is as much about estrogen as it is about testosterone.

So is there any good news in all of this? Absolutely! And that is what this web site is all about: the research has also shown that you have considerable control over your testosterone levels. The average T-level values are just averages. You can push these significantly up or down based on certain lifestyle choices you make.  (Please see this link on How to Control Your Estrogen Levels as well.)

When does low testosterone cause erectile dysfunction or harden your arteries? 300 ng/dl? 400? Find out what the studies say in Low Testosterone By The Numbers.

Am I saying that you can get the testosterone you had when you were 25? Well, no. But then do you really want the testosterone levels you had when you were 25? Speaking for myself, I enjoy having a little self-control. Regardless, the great majority of us males, especially middle aged and beyond, can very significantly increase their testosterone. In fact, I'll go so far as to say, unless you have a major medical condition, you should be able to push your testosterone to healthy levels without resorting to HRT (hormone replacement therapy).

As it turns out, T-levels are controlled by many variables. Your testosterone clock did not just stop ticking: you just plugged the wrong values into your body's testosterone formula. If you will read through the material on this web site, I can almost guarantee you that you will be able to find a few relatively easy changes that will pump up your T. This should net you a boost of 30+% and perhaps even more if you’re living a lifestyle that is particularly T-crushing.

In my opinion, the primary difference between middle age and youth is that middle age requires you to work for what was a given in days past. What required no effort before will now require some good old fashioned sweat equity. But the point is that it is doable. Andropause does not have to be the end of the road.

In fact, my experience is that if you can get T right at 500 or over and then add on various lifestyle changes and supplements to boost nitric oxide output and libido, you can for all practical purposes eliminate the effects of andropause or at least delay it’s onset by decades. I would even argue that the slightly lowered T-levels of middle age are really the ideal. You will find that at these levels you will be much more satisfying to your lover. In middle age you have more control and less of that overt aggression. What I’m getting at is this: there’s really no reason that the 40’s and 50’s shouldn’t be the best sexual and romantic times of your life. So don’t give up – andropause is really just the beginning and NOT an ending.

REFERENCES:

1) J Clin Endocrin Metab, 1993, 77: 375-381, "Effect of aging on endogenous levels of 5-alpha-dihydrotestosterone, testosterone, estradiol and estrone in epithelium and stroma of normal and hyperplastic human prostate"