Male menopause (also called viropause or andropause) begins with hormonal, physiological, and chemical changes that occur in all men generally between the ages of forty and fifty-five, though it can occur as early as thirty-five or as late as sixty-five.

These changes affect all aspects of a man's life.  Male menopause is, thus, a physical condition with psychological, interpersonal, social, and spiritual dimensions.

The purpose of male menopause is to signal the end of the first part of a man's life and prepare him for the second half.  Male menopause is not the beginning of the end, as many fear, but the end of the beginning.  It is the passage to the most passionate, powerful, productive, and purposeful time of a man's life.

In the United States, there are 25,172,000 men between the ages of forty and fifty-five who are now going through the Male Menopause Passage. Worldwide that number is 408 million.

In less than twenty-five years, by 2020, the number of men in the United States going through the Male Menopause Passage will grow to approximately 57,500,000.  Worldwide it will grow to 690 million men.

The most common physical symptoms of male menopause include:

• Taking longer to recover from injuries and illness
• Less endurance for physical activity
• Feeling fat, gaining weight
• Difficulty reading small print
• Loss or thinning of hair
• Sleep disturbances

• Irritability
• Indecisiveness
• Anxiety and fear
• Depression
• Loss of self-confidence and joy
• Loss of purpose and direction in life
• Feeling lonely, unattractive, and unloved
• Forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating

• Reduced interest in sex
• Increased anxiety and fear about losing sexual potency
• Increased fantasies about having sex with a new and younger partner
• More relationship problems and fights over sex, love, and intimacy
• Loss of erection during sexual activity

Seven sexual changes that occur in healthy, normal males as they age include the following:

• Erections take longer to occur.
• He often requires direct physical stimulation to get an erection; a sexy sight or fantastic fantasy may not arouse him as it did before.
• The full erection doesn't get quite as firm as it used to.
• His urge to ejaculate is not as insistent as before. Sometimes he doesn't feel the need to have an orgasm at all.
• The force of ejaculation isn't as strong as it once was. The amount of his ejaculate is less, and he may have fewer sperm.
• The desire for and frequency of masturbation may drop, but in some men may increase.
• The testicles shrink some, and the scrotal sack droops. The sack doesn't bunch up as much during arousal.

According to results from the Massachusetts Male Aging Study that studied a large sample of men between the ages of forty and seventy, the combined prevalence of minimal, moderate, and complete impotence was 52 percent.  Although the study found that psychological factors play a role as men age, physical factors are more significant.

There was a high correlation between erection dysfunction and heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, as well as with the medications that are often taken to deal with these problems.

Since the physical, psychological, and sexual aspects are interconnected, most all these symptoms can be prevented and treated by concentrating on the whole man.
 

Hormones, Male PMS, and Health Problems

Hormonal changes greatly affect men going through male menopause.  Lowered levels of hormones at midlife are central to the changes associated with male menopause.

Recent research indicates that lowered levels of the following hormones may decrease sex drive, increase depression and weight gain, and contribute to a general decrease in well-being and health: Dopamine, oxytocin, vasopressin, growth hormone, melatonin, DHEA, pregnenolone, thyroid hormone, and testosterone.

Although these hormones tend to decrease with age, each man is unique and individual levels vary widely.

Some researchers now believe that giving men replacement hormones may allow them to remain vital and healthy into their sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, and beyond.

Since significant research on hormone replacement therapy for men is new, men should be cautious about taking hormones and should only do so under supervision of a physician trained in this medical specialty.

Men, like women, experience complex hormonal rhythms that affect their sexuality, mood, and temperament. For instance, researchers have found five different testosterone cycles in men:

• Rhythmic fluctuations three to four times an hour.
• Daily changes with testosterone higher in the morning and lower in the afternoon.
• Monthly fluctuations that are rhythmic, but different for each man.
• Fluctuations throughout the year with levels higher in October and lower in April.
• Decreasing levels associated with male menopause that occur as men get older.

In a recent study, when men were given the same checklists of symptoms from a typical PMS questionnaire--omitting the female specific symptoms, such as breast tenderness--men reported having as many premenstrual type symptoms (reduced or
increased energy, irritability, and other negative moods, back pain, sleeplessness, headaches, confusion, etc.) as women do--when the symptoms aren't called PMS.
 

How to Beat Male Menopause

• Eat right.  The traditional Asian diet, with its foundation of rice or other grains, an abundance of vegetables, fruits, beans, tofu, and legumes, a limited amount of meat and other animal foods, and virtually no dairy products, is a good foundation for healthy eating.

• Stay physically fit. Engage in regular exercise that includes the following components: cardiorespiratory (aerobic) endurance, muscular strength, and flexibility.

• Take vitamins and supplements for health.  APGL should be part of thes supplements.

• Take herbs to balance the system and protect the prostate.

• Get regular health checkups.  Regular health care visits and screenings are important contributors to men's health and longevity, yet according to Kenneth Goldberg, M.D., men make 130 million fewer doctors visits a year than women.

• Check hormone levels as you get older.  Generally between forty and fifty-five a number of important hormones in a man's body begin to decline.   APGL and increased Growth Hormone can be of assistance here.

• Reduce stress and worry in your life.  Stress is a major source of trouble for men at midlife.

• Embrace a sexuality appropriate to the second half of life.  In the second half of life, a man's sexuality expands to include more emphasis on friendship, love, intimacy, and spirituality.