Male Menopause: The Real Thing or Just Another Scam from the Health Care Industry?
Consider these symptoms typically mentioned when discussing male menopause: irritability, erectile dysfunction, reduced libido and fatigue. Well, I mean, you know. Look at those symptoms again and do a little mental math. A guy is fatigued because he’s older and doesn’t have the energy he used to have, so his sex drive isn’t what it used to be. His significant other doesn’t have the same problem and so uses his or her wiles to convince him to give it the old college try, resulting in an inability to perform, which causes him to be irritable. Does that mean he’s suffering from male menopause?
Biology-and some would argue evolution-works in such a way that a man’s testosterone level declines with age. This decline is usually gradual to the point of not even being noticed, but occasionally it can be much more rapid. Whether the decline is rapid or not, lowered testosterone levels means less firm erections, not to mention taking longer to get there. In other word, erectile dysfunction is perfectly normal. Indeed, it is the rare 50 year old who carry a jacket from one side of his house to another without using his hands or draping it over his shoulder, if you know what I mean. And since this loss of ability to be and maintain the firmness you once had often comes in concert with an increasing inability to achieve ejaculationâÂ?¦well, what guy wouldn’t be irritable!
Okay, so the sexual symptoms of male menopause might be confusing, but what about the symptoms that aren’t sexual? Male menopause is often pinpointed as the culprit for older men who’ve gained weight and start making funny noises when required to move position. In addition, sleeping problems and anxiety are included among the symptoms. Do you experience any of these? Are you twenty years old? Oh no, watch out, you might be suffering from early-onset male menopause. Oh, and don’t forget this favorite of those who want to sell you products to help you deal with male menopause: Everything ticks me off now!
Yeah, you read that right. One of the symptoms that pharmaceutical companies in collusion with the health care industry wants to include as part of the description of male menopause is the turning from a nice, easygoing guy into somebody who looks at the world around them and is eternally disgusted. You want to know what I think? I think that anybody who has opened their eyes in the last five years and looked around and isn’t bothered, bewildered and downright disgusted by what they’ve seen is the one with the problem. The young are usually considered cynical, but what people really mean by that is apathetic. Usually, it takes age and wisdom and experience to fully comprehend just why you SHOULD be more bothered by things than you used to be. But those pharmaceutical companies want to sell you products to keep you from being bothered. I wonder why!
And it’s not just the pharmaceutical companies and the rest of the health care complex that wants to turn what are simply normal parts of getting older into some sort of homogeneous disorder. Male menopause has opened the way for spiritual guidance and advisors. Getting older has become something that needs to be treated with advice from those claiming to get their instructions from God.
Do you think you are suffering symptoms of male menopause? If you tell your doctor, do you know what advice you’ll get? You need a testosterone level test. And if your testosterone level comes back too low, which it more than likely will if you are of a certain age, you’ll then be directed to try testosterone replacement therapy. What is testosterone replacement therapy? Testosterone packed into a pill, shot, patch or gel. What will you gain from testosterone replacement therapy? Perhaps you’ll lose weight and gain muscle; perhaps your sex drive will return. And if it doesn’t, it will just as soon as your doctor recommends putting you on Viagra.
Next will come the recommendation that you have your hormone levels checked: melatonin, DHEA, thyroid, pregnenolone, and even estrogen! More than likely these tests will reveal deficiencies of one sort or another. Know what that mean? A recommendation to start taking supplements, usually high in antioxidants.
And one last word of warning to those considering mentioned the words male menopause to their health care professional. Remember those symptoms: irritability, insomnia, fatigue, erectile dysfunction? Just in case you forget, those are also symptoms of depression. And lest you’ve been in a coma for the past decade or two, most pharmaceutical companies are only able to stave off the need to merge due to the profits they make by selling anti-depressant medications. So be careful when considering male menopause. Just mentioning the term may cost you more than you know.
For more information on this subject, as well as some other viewpoints, please take a look at a few of the other articles here at Associated Content. Be sure to read midwestgirl’s article on natural treatments for the menopause symptoms. Sandra Koehler’s article considers the topic from a perspective that gives more credence to its existence than my own. And Susan Rand offers up a very interesting look at male menopause that considers how female partners can deal with the problem.
