Men and women experience various hormonal changes as they age.
Reduced testosterone levels brought on by ageing have been referred to as “male menopause” but is it the same as menopause?
During menopause in women, ovulation ceases and hormone production declines in a relatively short time. The reduction in testosterone in men isn’t the same as menopause in women.
The term “male menopause” is not considered appropriate by medical professionals. Instead, they prefer to use “late-onset hypogonadism” or “age-related low testosterone” to describe the gradual decrease of testosterone levels in males.
Decreased testosterone means a lower sex drive and an inability to have spontaneous erections or erections at all.
After the age of 40, a man’s testosterone levels typically decrease by 1% every year. Despite the ageing process, most old men maintain testosterone levels within the normal range and only a minority of 10% to 25% have testosterone levels that are considered low.
Many older men with low testosterone levels don’t even know they have low testosterone. To find out, they need to carry out a blood test, but this is not very common.
