THE title was intended to be stimulating, interesting, provocative, if not downright intriguing.
Well, for one, despite the fact that the word "men" is in the word "menopause"- no pun intended, our article will emphasize the distinct difference in the physiology and reproductive capacity of women and men.
Girls turn into a lady or a woman earlier than boys turning into men that is biologically speaking. The entry to womanhood for most girls occur at nine years with their first menstrual flow called menarche, although physiology books say that some girls may have theirs at seven and a few, believe it or not may be at 18, delayed for sure, but still considered within normal.
The appearance of a spontaneous ejaculate, usually nocturnal or it occurred while the boy is asleep, signals his potential as being a father, biological father, although for obvious reasons, there are psychological , social, legal and probably religious hurdles and limitations.
Females have a limited time for their reproductive capacity toward healthy fruition of offspring. Every month, one of her ovaries produce a mature egg called ovum, which if fertilized by the sperm of a male will produce another human baby. If not the unfertilized egg dies and is included in the menstrual flow of the woman every month (28-32 days) although some women may do so every 22 days while a few does it every 36 days. This sequence of events occurs with regularity for most healthy women until they reach a stage in their lives, as dreadful and fearful as being dumped by their first boyfriend, a reality in all women's live, menstruation.
Menopause is the end of a woman's fertility. Heavy, strong and sad words indeed. It is the cessation, stoppage of the cyclic functioning of her ovaries, therefore no more eggs to be fertilized. Menopause actually occurs at the end of a woman's last period. Again, for most women, it occurs at 52 with a wide range of 48 to 55 years. With no more ovarian production of estrogen, 75 percent of women experience the so-called hot flushes- feeling extremely hot even when it's cold weather, with the face and neck turning red, accompanied by profuse sweating.
Cardiovascular signs and symptoms appear like palpitation, tachycardia, chest pain and easy fatigability with emotional outbursts so much so that it has become customary for many Filipino household to be saying “hayaan mo na siya, nagme-menopause sya” as a gentle, kind understanding of woman undergoing these troubling times.
In contrast, the reproductive capacity of men is limitless, that is from the time he had his first ejaculate, until death, as long as he is healthy, particularly the seminiferous tubules of his testes which produces normal sperm cells which could fertilize a mature egg.
However, there is a part of his testes which may not be as normally productive as when he was younger. The interstitial cells of Leydig are the ones that produce the male hormone testosterone- the one that makes a man virile, strong, and aggressive and even the chemical that fires his ambitions and future plans.
Truth to tell, the word "andropause" was invented, so to speak, sparked by the need or the desire of some, mostly psychologists to have a male equivalent of menopause. Midlife for humans is at 40 years and men start having a decrease in the production of testosterone which becomes significant by the age of 50.
Nonetheless, even experts, Dr. Stephen Nazareth, urologist at the Makati Medical Center and endocrinologist Dr. Karla Christine Fernando are agreed that the signs and symptoms of andropause are not as dramatic and clinically significant as that of menopause. There are no physical bodily deficit like decrease in the length and girth of the penis or the testicles- although some men confess there are.
Of course, libido or sexual desire is much less but this can be attributed to the easy fatigability most old men complain about. Or a low back pain, arthritic spine and knees might just lessen whatever aroused sexual desire there is.
On the emotional side, comments about grouchy, grumpy and don’t forget the paunchy old men could stem from the depression felt by men in their 50s going into their 60s.