In most people’s minds, menopause is a symptom exclusive to women. Men also have “menopause”, just often overlooked. Generally speaking, men’s menopause occurs at the age of 50-65 when androgens gradually decline, but the level of this decline is stable, so the symptoms are not obvious, and some people enter menopause without realizing it.
What is male menopause syndrome?
Male menopause syndrome is a series of symptoms caused by the atrophy of testicles, the decrease of testosterone secretion, the feedback stimulation of the pituitary gland’s secretion function increases, the atrophied testicles’ response to gonadotropins decreases, so that the regulation of sex hormones in the body is out of balance, which is professionally known as “Late-onset hypogonadism,” and is also known as “male hypogonadism”. Late-onset hypogonadism (LOH), commonly known as “male menopause syndrome”.
However, while it is an indisputable fact that testosterone levels decline in every man in middle age, not all middle-aged and older men end up with testosterone deficiency and hypogonadism.
Symptoms of male menopause in TCM
According to Chinese medicine, the occurrence of male menopause syndrome is related to factors such as exhaustion of kidney qi, exhaustion of heavenly decadence, deficiency of essence and blood, etc. The common types of symptoms are as follows:
Failure of vital fire type: mainly manifested as impotence, premature ejaculation, thin semen, soreness and weakness of the waist and knees, coldness and coldness of limbs, and long and clear urine.
Liver Depression and Spleen Deficiency: mainly manifested as decreased libido, depressed mood, chest tightness and shortness of breath, loss of appetite, and loose stools.
Kidney Yin Deficiency: mainly manifested as hot flashes and night sweats, insomnia and dreaminess, palpitations and anxiety, dizziness and tinnitus, dry mouth and throat.
Kidney Yang Deficiency: The main manifestations are impotence, mental depression, pale face, limb weakness, edema, and watery diarrhea.
How to regulate the symptoms of “menopause” from the perspective of Chinese medicine?
According to Chinese medicine, this disease is a yin and yang imbalance of the kidneys, and the treatment emphasizes the identification of the evidence and is based on tonifying the liver and kidneys, dredging the liver, and relieving depression, because “the liver and kidneys are of the same origin”, and by dredging the liver and regulating the qi and blood, filling in the essence to replenish the marrow, and warming the kidneys and strengthening the yang, we can achieve the purpose of regulating the “male menopause”. The purpose of this treatment is to regulate “male menopause”.