scientists-on-andropause

Presenting
DiscoveryHealth.com writers

WHAT IS ANDROPAUSE? HOW COMMON IS IT?

1. Dr. Stephen Sinatra, a Manchester, Conn., cardiologist board certified in anti-aging medicine.
   Sinatra, author of “Heartbreak and Heart Disease”,
2. 
   Jed Diamond, a California psychotherapist and author of “Male Menopause” and the forthcoming book, “Surviving Male Menopause”
3. 
   Dr. Adrian Dobs, an endocrinologist and associate professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
4. 
   Dr. Michael A. Werner, a White Plains, N.Y., urologist with specialized training in male reproductive medicine and surgery and male erectile dysfunction.

Dr. Stephen Sinatra
“Male andropause can be very insidious,” explains Dr. Stephen Sinatra, a Manchester, Conn., cardiologist board certified in anti-aging medicine. The loss of testosterone, which can happen to men as young as 35, is gradual, with testosterone levels dropping just 1 percent to 1.5 percent annually. Unlike the precipitous loss of estrogen that women hitting menopause face, the gradual loss of testosterone may take years to exact its mark on men with a host of symptoms not unlike changes menopausal women experience.

To help increase testosterone production, Sinatra, who heads the New England Heart and Longevity Center in Manchester, Conn., suggests men take zinc and vitamins C and E. Sinatra also suggests herbs, such as muira puama, and L-arginine to increase a man’s libido.
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That grapefruit you’ve been eating to keep those pounds away may not be good for you after all if you’re a man suffering declining testosterone levels. The body’s aromatase enzyme turns testosterone into the female hormone estrogen when certain substances are ingested, says Dr. Stephen Sinatra, a cardiologist specializing in anti-aging medicine. Grapefruit is one of those catalysts.
Sinatra, author of “Heartbreak and Heart Disease”, also advises his male clients suffering from the symptoms of andropause to cut out alcohol from their diet and increase exercise. The aromatase enzyme is also turned on by alcohol and fat, so men with declining levels of testosterone are particularly vulnerable.
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Testosterone: New and popular AndroGel, a clear and odorless topical testosterone gel by Unimed Pharmaceuticals

Jed Diamond
“It’s like puberty in reverse,” Jed Diamond, a California psychotherapist and author of “Male Menopause” and the forthcoming book, “Surviving Male Menopause”, says of andropause. Like puberty, the changes that andropause wreaks in aging men, Diamond says, are
“hormonal,
psychological,
interpersonal,
social,
sexual and
spiritual.”

Diamond says that as many as 25 million American males between ages 40 and 55 are experiencing some degree of male.
Loss of libido, for example, can be treated with the vasodilator ginkgo biloba, suggests Jed Diamond, author of “Male Menopause.” For men hitting midlife, Diamond recommends, eat soy products, lower fat foods, vegetables and tomato products, the last of which can reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Furthermore, drinking plenty of water is a key component for healthy living.
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Andropause can be easily misdiagnosed by Depression. (Depressive Disorder.)

PATIENT SAYS
Irritability, fatigue, depression, reduced libido and erection problems are hallmark signs of andropause. “I felt like I didn’t want to move,” says Cecil Dorsey of Vernon, Conn. The 68-year-old retired truck driver, who discovered via a blood test nearly four years ago that his testosterone levels dropped, said, “I just didn’t want to be bothered by anything.”

Dr. Adrian Dobs
Although the first study on male andropause was published in the “Journal of the American Medical Association” in the mid-1940s, it’s only recently that the U.S. medical community has taken notice of this condition, says Dr. Adrian Dobs, an endocrinologist and associate professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
andropausal male may be diagnosed with depression and prescribed an antidepressant, and both doctor and patient think the man’s problem has been addressed. However, if that man has other symptoms of male menopause such as loss of libido, the antidepressant will only exaggerate that problem.
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“All men should be brought up to a certain level of testosterone,” advocates Dobs, who suggests that minimum levels should be 300 nanograms per deciliter of total testosterone. The mean level for a 40-year-old is 500 nanograms, she says.

Instances where testosterone replacement therapy is advised, Dobs says, include men with clear bone density loss, which can lead to osteoporosis and decreased height, and in treating sexual dysfunction in cases where Viagra or other often prescribed remedies don’t work. Another area of possible benefits of testosterone therapy may be in cases to maintain body composition and muscle — for instance, in patients fighting cancer.
Dr. Michael A. Werner
But testosterone replacement therapy is “not a benign treatment,” warns Dr. Michael A. Werner, a White Plains, N.Y., urologist with specialized training in male reproductive medicine and surgery and male erectile dysfunction.
Specialists say that men considering testosterone replacement therapy—whether by injection, patches, cream, gel or oral form—should get their PSA levels checked as testosterone replacement therapy could increase the risk of prostate cancer. (A PSA blood test identifies a man’s risk for prostate cancer.) Other risks associated with hormone supplementation, particularly with injections, include the risk of stroke, an increase in liver toxicity and breast development. Ironically, testosterone supplementation also shuts down the production of sperm, Werner says.
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SOURCES

Disovery.com Writers