Male Menopause? Part One

 

Published February 7, 2003 in the North Island Weekender

 

I was recently beseeched by a patient to write about male menopause which, she was convinced, her ex-husband was experiencing. The story of a long-standing marriage ending in mid-life is a common one. Of course there are many complex reasons for a marriage to end. This weekend I read in the paper a review of the book What Should I Do With My Life? by Po Bronson. The author interviews dozens of real life successful people who were dissatisfied with their jobs and who then abandoned status and salary in search of their true calling. He tells about the lawyer who became a truck driver, an MBA turned catfish farmer and the Cuban-American banker who becomes a social worker. Work and identity are so closely linked and so often the story of the newly retiree finally living his dream, only to be diagnosed with a terminal illness is a sad one. Unfortunately a lifetime of living a job spent clock watching and nursing resentments against tyrannical employers and burdensome families they must support, plays havoc with the immune system. Mr. Bronson’s main message is “it’s okay not to have an answer, but it is not okay to stop looking for one.”  If you don’t love yourself first how can you expect a spouse to love you, and taking care of yourself is very much part of loving yourself. The goal of any middle aged man or woman is to enjoy a long and happy retirement doing what they love to do and aging gracefully because of it.

The purpose of this two-part article is to give men some physical symptoms to watch for as they age which may be treated using naturopathic medicine.

I attended a lecture given by Dr. Michael McNeely MD in Victoria last fall on the topic of Andropause “male menopause”. If you answer yes to 7 of the following questions then you may possibly have Andropause, a diagnosis of lowered blood levels of testosterone: Do you have a decrease in libido? Do you have lack of energy? Do you have decreased strength and/or endurance? Have you lost height? Have you experienced decreased enjoyment of life? Are you sad and/or grumpy? Are your erections less strong? Have you noticed a recent decline in your ability to play sports? Do you fall asleep after dinner? Have you recently experienced a decline in your work performance? 20% of men with testosterone deficiency have hot flushes; general aches and pains and loss of bone mass. Men in their 60’s and 70’s have a 20% lower level of testosterone than in their 20’s and 30’s. 15% of men have lowered levels of testosterone and exhibit no symptoms. Men can experience a similar condition to female menopause between the ages of 40-55 when testosterone levels first begin to decline.

What appears to drop the most dramatically is the free testosterone. Free testosterone is not bound to hormone binding globulin, which makes it the active form. Salivary hormone testing is the best way for this level to be measured. Unfortunately medical labs in BC do not yet perform salivary hormone testing so they calculate this level from the bound form levels, which is inaccurate. Naturopathic physicians perform these tests routinely and also will look for lowered levels of DHEA and cortisol and increasing levels of estrogen, other hormones implicated in andropause. Yes… estrogen is produced in the male body and is extremely beneficial to the male brain. However as men grow older the ratio of estrogen to testosterone increases. This may also be due in part to the environment, which is full of estrogen mimicking substances (xenoestrogens), which confuse the endocrine system. Estrogen seriously reduces the effect of testosterone causing an increase in heart attack and stroke and promotes cell growth in the prostate increasing the occurrence of benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). An increase in abdominal fat will increase estrogen levels and reduce the levels of free testosterone. A high fat meal can reduce testosterone levels for about four hours! Central obesity is also recognized as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes. This is referred to “hip to waist ratio” which means if your waist is larger than your hips you are at an increased risk.

There are natural treatments for this condition aside from taking testosterone and Viagra.

Part Two of this article will explain the naturopathic treatments for Andropause.

 

Dr. Pincott has been practicing naturopathic medicine since 1985 and is currently practicing in Campbell River. She can be reached at (250) 286-3655 or www.DrPincott.com