We’ve all heard the stories about men dealing with a midlife crisis by acquiring a mistress and a sports car. But, says Johannesburg GP Lorraine Becker, the men who consult her about male menopause are too tired for any of this. "They are falling asleep on the couch in front of the TV; they haven’t got the energy to handle a mistress," she said. Andropause is real and it’s no joke. Just like women who experience menopause symptoms due to a decline in sex hormones, ageing affects men’s hormones — especially the male steroid hormones testosterone, progesterone and oestrogen. The balance between hormones is important. Oestrogen dominance can be destructive and causes "man boobs" or gynaecomastia, clinical pharmacist David Arthur said. "A friend who is a plastic surgeon says he does a lot of surgery to remove man boobs," he said at a talk at the Integrative Medical Centre in Bryanston. Other symptoms associated with andropause include an expanding waistline, loss of virility, and thinni...
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