September 10, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): Women are known to come to an end of their reproductive life with the onset of menopause. This physiological phenomenon marks a definitive change in the female of our species while the men plagued by middle age crisis or deemed as ‘over the hill’ do not really have any such concrete symptoms.

However, the male menopause might not really be the result of our imagination so feel the scientists now. With men arriving at their doctor’s doorsteps by the hordes each complaining of fatigue, depression and sexual dysfunction along with weight gain point to low testosterone levels in almost all of them.

Certain doctors like Robert Brannigan of Chicago may decide to treat the patients by giving them a shot of the male hormone. However, the subject of male menopause remains controversial till date. For one, the term itself is not correct and can be called late-onset hygonadism more aptly while the relation between the symptoms and hormonal decrease have not been proved beyond doubt as yet. Furthermore not all males suffer from the symptoms and as such the life changes cannot be categorized as something akin to the female menopause.

Scientific results show that most of the men have such complaints arising from old age and not specifically from hormone related problems.

Dr. Ike Iheanacho is the editor of Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin which had published study reviews of the use of testosterone to cure the so called ‘Male Menopause’ in its June issue. However, the entire process still remains too much of a trial and error method. The theory has not found too much favour among the medical fraternity however.