Shedding light on male menopause

HAVE you ever gained weight, had hot flushes or been less sexually aroused? Has your partner also noticed any of these things?

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These are a few symptoms of male menopause, a condition that is largely ignored.

Women have a fixed ovarian reserve, which gradually decreases with time and leads to menopause, as is widely known.

Although men do not go through menopause, the sudden drop in testosterone causes them to go through similar problems.

Andropause, or male menopause, is the name used to describe it. As men age, they undergo changes, including loss of muscle mass and greying hair.

Dr Shobha Gupta, medical director and IVF expert from Mother's Lap IVF Centre in New Delhi and Vrindavan, said: "The topic is rarely investigated because there isn't much research on it.

"Hormone withdrawal isn't as bad as it is in women, and you don't die from a decline in gonadal hormones.