Andropause at the Beginning of the New Century: A Few Remarks on Hormones and Aging of Men

Abstract

In a woman’s life, a remarkable event occurs when she is approximately 50 years old, now as well as a century ago when longevity was much shorter: ovulation stops, and therefore fertility. Consequently, estradiol, the archetypal estrogen, decreases to a very low level in the blood — lower (naturally in absence of replacement administration) than it is in men and even aging men (Table 1). In women, hormone replacement therapy, mainly with estrogen, produces recognized benefits for several estrogen deficit-associated physical impairments. In the twentieth century, the discoveries of sex hormones, of their main mechanism of action at the gene expression level via nuclear receptors, and of the synthesis of synthetic active derivatives and preparations permitting relatively easy utilization (including specific estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), have had many positive effects on the lives of menopausal and postmenopausal women.