Manopause (aka Menoporsche)

Menopause--it's no longer just for women.  It appears that many middle-aged men are proudly proclaiming the benefits of testosterone therapy to combat "change-of-life malaise."  Here's a sample from an interesting article by Shari Rudavsky (Thanks to MemCheck for the link):

Nine years ago, Scott Simmons, now 54, felt he had run out of steam. The Fort Wayne man sold his advertising business and decided to get back in shape. No matter how much time he spent at the gym, however, his body retained its less-than-taut middle-aged shape.

He read an article about testosterone and asked his internist to check his level of the hormone. Sure enough, he fell in the lower range. After his doctor prescribed testosterone, his problems melted away. Not only did his muscles pop out, his attitude did a 180. "I felt so much better, I felt good," Simmons says. "All I remember was, suddenly now I wasn't tired as much. I just felt younger and more energetic again."

Male menopause is not as much a foregone conclusion as female menopause, which every woman who lives past a certain age will experience. While men lose about 1 percent of testosterone each year after age 30 or so, not every man will drop into the low range. . . .

Some doctors believe that midlife crises often stem from men's waning testosterone levels. Dr. Harry Fisch, a New York physician and author of the "Male Biological Clock," drolly refers to the phenomenon as "menoporsche," noting that testosterone treatment may prove a better antidote for the condition than the purchase of a new sports car.

In addition to the big questions such treatment raises about human therapy/enhancement, there are, not surprisingly, some safety concerns:

Not everyone endorses the widespread use of testosterone therapy -- at least not at this point. A 2003 Institute of Medicine report on the treatment urged caution, noting that not enough was known about testosterone therapy to assure users that it's 100 percent safe.

[Editor's Note: Some paragraphs in the original text were condensed here.]