Docs Debate Male Menopause

If you’re a guy in your late 40s or 50s, and you’ve been feeling unusually grumpy, borderline impotent, and all around miserable lately, you might just have male menopause, ABC News reports. Many physicians believe men experience a drop in testosterone as they get older, which can result in something called “andropause” or “T-syndrome.” Indeed, ads for drugs to treat it been cropping up across primetime TV. Which is just what annoys some docs, who think it's a drug-company hoax.

One doctor says andropause is “largely promoted by industry, accepted by a handful of physicians, and embraced by some patients who are looking for an antidote to aging.” But another doctor calls that an “absurd view” that “conveniently ignores medical observations going back 500 years.” Most studies on it are relatively recent, however; one estimates that by 2025, 6.5 million Americans will be suffering symptoms of low testosterone. (More testosterone stories.)