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Female menopause is pretty much common knowledge. What isn’t discussed nearly as much – arguably not at all – is male menopause. Yup, that’s a thing.
It turns out that men (somewhere between 10 and 40 percent of them, says the journal Translational Andrology and Urology) will face a testosterone deficiency. This is also known as late-onset hypogonadism, andropause, androgen deficiency and – most popular – male menopause. Here’s everything there is to know about it.
Why Male Menopause Isn’t Discussed
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There are a number of factors that contribute to the radio silence surrounding male menopause. First off men, in general, are less likely to see their doctors for their regular checkups. Research published in The National Library of Medicine (NLM) found that men with health problems are significantly less likely than women with health problems to have had any recent contact with a doctor. Men just don’t go in for a tune-up as often as women do, so the opportunities for these phase-of-life conversations are rarer.
There’s also the reality that men are not as comfortable discussing topics of an intimate nature – such as sexual dysfunction or mental health issues – with a medical practitioner. A study published by the Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation found that nearly 37 percent of men aren’t comfortable discussing topics of a sexual nature with their doctor. And the NLM also reported that men are less likely compared to women to seek mental health assistance. These two issues – sexual dysfunction and mental health decline – are often at the center of male menopause symptoms. So not surprisingly, men don’t get diagnosed with male menopause often.
