Understanding the hormonal decline that defines
                    male menopause, andropause and correctly identifying 
                    health concerns including male menopause symptoms.
                    The role of bioidentical hormones in treating male menopause.

  What is male menopause or andropause ?

It was believed that only women experience the middle-age decline in hormones called menopause. However, women are not the only ones whose hormone levels decline. Men go through a process similar to menopause, it is called male menopause. Many doctors began realizing that their male patients were describing symptoms quite similar to that of women in perimenopause or menopause. These symptoms are known as male menopause symptoms and may include dry skin, hot flashes, night sweats, depression, loss of libido, anxiety and excess weight.

Although, a majority of the medical community refuses to accept the fact that men can and do experience male menopause in a way that is comparable to female menopause, doctors who specialize in bioidentical hormones for men and testosterone replacement therapy successfully treat male menopause symptoms. Unfortunately, many men are left to suffer through the symptoms of male menopause not knowing that they can be helped.


 Testosterone replacement therapy - 
 bioidentical hormones and male menopause

Men experiencing male menopause may decide on natural testosterone replacement therapy that utilizes bioidentical hormones such as bioidentical testosterone (most often as testosterone cream) and bioidentical DHEA (in the from of a natural DHEA supplement). Various doctors who prescribe testosterone replacement therapy for the treatment of male menopause state that their patients reported a noticeable overall improvement of the discomforting male menopause symptoms, sometimes as soon as the first week into treatment.

Male menopause does not begin as an obvious, well-defined period in a man’s life. It is usually a very gradual transition from youth into old age. Male menopause is a condition of androgen decline in the aging male (the foremost declining androgen being testosterone), or “low testosterone”. The diminishment of the male androgenic hormone testosterone during male menopause may be accentuated by other factors including obesity, lifestyle, stress levels, diet and disease. Once normal testosterone levels in men begin falling, male menopause symptoms such as fatigue, insomnia, sexual function impairment and depression (among others) can manifest themselves, thereby decreasing a man’s quality of life.

During menopause women loose their reproductive function. Men experiencing male menopause do not. As oppose to women going through menopause where the production of hormones falls abruptly (primarily estrogen and progesterone), men experiencing male menopause have their normal testosterone levels dwindle at a much slower pace that may extend over a period of many years.

  How is male menopause diagnosed ?

In order to be able to determine the existence of male menopause in an individual, a knowledgeable doctor who specializes in hormonal health and endocrine disorders (including male menopause) will need to conduct a thorough evaluation of the current health condition of the individual man. This evaluation may be comprised of a physical exam, the patient completing a detailed medical questionnaire and a consultation with the doctor regarding the symptoms of male menopause or changes in normal behavior being experienced at this time. The doctor may then order a series of comprehensive diagnostic tests that will facilitate for an in-depth look at the patient’s hormonal health. These tests can include a hormonal panel measuring blood testosterone levels, estradiol, progesterone and DHEA levels. The doctor will then evaluate the test results to rule out other factors that may be contributing to the male menopause symptoms. Based on these test results, the doctor should then make a determination whether or not the individual is undergoing male menopause. If needed, the doctor may request additional testing.

If the doctor establishes that the patient is experiencing male menopause and if the patient’s testosterone levels and other hormone levels are indeed imbalanced, he or she may then recommend natural bioidentical hormone replacement therapy BHRT. Usually only doctors who specialize in bioidentical hormones prescribe bioidentical hormone replacement therapy for men. Synthetic hormones may have serious side-effects when compared to natural bioidentical hormones for men. For that reason, bioidentical hormones for men are a safer alternative used in the treatment of male menopause. Bioidentical hormones administered through bioidentical hormone replacement therapy BHRT may greatly help relieve male menopause symptoms, improve sexual function and restore energy back into a man’s life.

  What is male menopause called ?

Male menopause is also referred to as andropause, a health condition characterized by a hormonal imbalance in which male hormones, called androgens, decline. These male androgen hormones include the steroid hormones DHEA dehydroepiandrosterone (secreted by the adrenal cortex) and the hormone testosterone (produced by the Leydig cells of the testes).

Male menopause is a phase in aging men that is reminiscent of menopause in women. The symptoms of male menopause or andropause develop due to a decrease in the levels of the androgenic hormones DHEA and testosterone, while during female menopause, the symptoms are caused by the decrease of the predominantly female hormones estrogen and progesterone.

A frequent phenomenon experienced by men at the time of male menopause is an increase in the levels of the female hormone estradiol. This augmentation of estradiol during male menopause may have feminizing effects on a man. These can include the development of a high pitched voice and the unnatural growth of breast tissue.

  Male menopause, a medical condition warranting treatment 

Many men enduring male menopause are not being adequately diagnosed by their doctors nor are the viewed as having a medical condition warranting treatment. In recent times, due to information that has become more easily attainable by the general public, more men are seeking treatment options available for male menopause and male menopause symptoms. In the past, the majority of men were reluctant to acknowledge that they were experiencing “male menopause” and did not want to discuss these symptoms of male menopause with their medical doctors. Another contributing factor that caused male menopause to remain unaddressed for so long was the fact that male menopause develops at a slow rate.