Do all men need male menopause treatment?

Every fourth man experience drop of testosterone level when he reaches the middle age. This period is called manopause or a male menopause. A professor of geriatric medicine from the Washington University Alvin Matsumoto confirmed that the level of testosterone decreases slowly when the man is over 40. This is a part of natural process therefore there is no necessity to treat the condition with the exception of cases when the person has some undesirable consequences of this reduction.

Now there are no arguments around this issue as it was before. Many testosterone products were sold to restore testosterone level in men such as patches, shots or special gels. The number of prescriptions for these products increased four times in the period 1999 – 2008. But then it turned out that testosterone treatment is not that harmless. Some side effects are rather severe.

Symptoms of male menopause

The symptoms of menopause are tiredness, depression, sudden changes of mood, weight gain, flashes and insomnia – the same problem that women face during menopause.

The specialists discovered that of 25% of men with low T only 5% need actually testosterone treatment. It is worth saying that it is hard to determine the real cause of problems in these men because their symptoms can be easily confused with symptoms of other disease.

The researcher from GB tried to solve this problem earlier. He conducted the experiment to determine more precise symptoms associated with low T. As a result of this study, only 3 symptoms happened to be closely connected to testosterone levels. They include decrease of sexual thoughts, drop of morning erections and ED. It also helped to narrow the list of patients to 2%. In this way, only 2% of male patients from 40 to 80 suffer from male menopause and only they require treatment.

Reassessment of testosterone treatment

The advantages of disadvantages of testosterone treatment were assessed anew after the results of new studies were published. The benefits of such treatment in patients with age related low T happened to be dubious. However, doctors continued to prescribe testosterone products in expectation of some benefits. The cost of monthly therapy varied from 50 to 200 dollars, depending upon the frequency of intake.

Putting the money factor aside, even if you are not going to save money when health is on stake, the problem has the other side. Some patients developed headache and gained weight.

Testosterone therapy can also cause rise of red blood cell production, and can bring to heart problems and stroke. Though the connection was not determined, the risk of prostate cancer also came into view. In spite of lack of evidence, doctors must tell patients about potential risks and appoint remedies only after discussion with a person. In addition, such men should be observed more thoroughly to avoid these problems.