Yes, manopause is real!

Your husband’s grumpy, he’s feeling hot and sweaty. He has lost his libido. Sound familiar? Your husband could have manopause.

It’s something we’ve suspected for years but now researchers have found that manopause is a real thing that affects men around the same time menopause affects women.

Hallelujah! We finally aren’t going through this ageing thing alone. While it’s not entirely good news, especially for blokes, it is a relief that there’s finally a scientific explanation for why our previously very mellow husbands become grouchy old things in an instant.

A new 25-year study of 2500 men, published in The Aging Male Journal by Dr Malcolm Carruthers, discovered other symptoms that point to manopause: joint pain, night sweats, low mood, low libido, decreased sexual function, weight gain and irritability.

The term manopause has been coined to name that time in a man’s life where his hormonal loss is showing itself through physical changes, which in turn affect his sense of self. A strong, manly man may struggle to deal with becoming less ‘manly’ in other departments.

And although ageing men don’t experience a sudden drop in testosterone (like how women have a drop in oestrogen), men’s testosterone levels do decline as they get older, making them become manopausal.

The findings of the studies showed some good news: TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) can be effective in reducing symptoms associated with a hormonal decline. Around 1-in-5 men could benefit from TRT.

The researchers, from both the UK’s Centre for Men’s Health and the Department of Urology at University College London, studied more than 2,000 patients with an average age of 54, who underwent testosterone treatment over 26 years. They found that nearly all the men saw improvements to their health after a prescription of TRT: “In most cases with complete resolution of their symptoms,” said Professor Malcolm Carruthers. Seven different kinds of TRT were deemed safe with little to no side effects.

The researchers are hoping that testosterone deficiency is viewed more widely and commonly among men, rather than being a small minority.

“This study proves TRT’s effectiveness in relieving the symptoms of thousands of men…but most importantly supports the safety of testosterone treatment — even over prolonged periods,” Professor Carruthers said.

Tell us, does your husband or partner display signs of manopause? Has he looked into TRT? Or do you think manopause is not a real thing?