By James Mirabile, M.D.
Forever Health Network Practitioner

There comes a time, inevitably, when men begin to hear age-related comments like “You’re just getting older,” or “You’re not as young as you used to be.”  

Issues of masculinity can be a sensitive topic and no man wants to hear that he’s losing testosterone, the very hormone that makes him a man and helps him feel masculine.

In the past, symptoms of low testosterone were attributed to normal changes associated with aging, often called a mid-life crisis. Doctors typically would instruct patients to passively accept their plight because they no longer were “spring chickens.” So hair loss, paunchiness or erectile dysfunction were either not discussed or symptomatically treated with anti-depressants or male enhancement drugs. However treating the symptoms of age-related hormonal changes in men is not as effective as treating the root cause. 

Andropause – The Male Version of Menopause

Every man experiences a gradual decline in hormone production as he gets older. Beginning at age 30, his body starts to manufacture less and less testosterone, losing roughly 1 to 3 percent per year.

Then, sometime between age 40 and 55, testosterone levels drop dramatically and signal the onset of andropause, the medical term for the male equivalent of menopause. Throughout this process, men find themselves putting on weight, losing muscle mass, feeling sluggish and depressed, and becoming increasingly irritable.

They remember a time when they had energy for work and family, but those days are now few and far between. They find it harder to concentrate at work, and their workouts are cut short by pain or fatigue that didn’t previously exist.

The realization is even more troubling for those men who begin to experience lack of sexual drive and impotence. If the root problem — hormonal imbalance — is not treated properly, men can experience a number of physical and mental challenges, including health issues associated with weight gain and abdominal fat.

Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy

For more than 20 years, doctors have been treating women’s menopause-related health issues by using bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Practitioners know that safely restoring the body with appropriate hormone levels can literally change lives.

A hormone regimen, however, has to begin with hormone testing. Once your doctor knows your hormone levels and can identify any imbalances, then a proper course of treatment can begin.

Note: Edited by Forever Health