There has been controversy about whether there was a there-there when the diagnosis was “male menopause.”

This article confirms that it is real but far less common than had been thought.

Only about 2 percent of men, ranging in age from 40-80, have it, report the study authors.

The New England Journal of Medicine published this today online.

Bloomberg Businessweek

“In describing a set of concrete symptoms for “male menopause” for the first time, British researchers have also determined that only about 2 percent of men aged 40 to 80 suffer from the condition, far less than previously thought.

“Male menopause, also called “andropause” or late-onset hypogonadism, supposedly results from declines in testosterone production that occur later in life, but there has been some debate on how real the phenomenon is, the study authors noted.

“Some aging men indeed suffer from [male menopause]. It is a genuine syndrome, but much less common than previously assumed,” concluded Dr. Ilpo Huhtaniemi, senior author of a study published online June 16 in the New England Journal of Medicine.”

Source: Bloomberg Businessweek, June 16, 2010

Citation: Published at www.nejm.org June 16, 2010 (10.1056/NEJMoa0911101)