Call it Manopause

Female menopause usually occurs around the age of 51 when a woman stops menstruating. But because men lack a comparably timed physiological event, it's harder to say what male menopause is and when exactly it occurs.

But physicians agree that approximately 40 percent of men in their 40s, 50s and 60s will experience some degree of lethargy, depression, increased irritability, mood swings, and difficulty in attaining and sustaining erections.

Psychotherapist Jed Diamond wrote the book on the subject. In Male Menopause (Sourcebooks 1998), he says male menopause, also called andropause or viropause, encompasses a wide range of hormonal, physiological and chemical changes.

Canadian physician Art Hister, M.D., author of Midlife Man (Greystone 2007), summarizes the current thinking on the subject: "I believe the term menopause, whether we apply it to men or women, should not be restricted to hormonal changes alone, but rather should signify a universal passage during midlife that encompasses hormonal, physiological, biochemical, psychological and spiritual changes that are linked to corresponding alterations in health, outlook, expectations, self-perception, relationships, family ties and social status."

Fair enough. But perhaps the most dramatic aspects of male menopause are the changes in sexual functioning that may occur. Erections may take longer to develop and they may be less firm than they used to be, a troubling issue for many. Fortunately, there are prescription drugs now that can help.

But other men find this state of affairs liberating as they take the opportunity to cultivate their partner's and their own sexual fulfillment rather than focusing strictly on sexual performance.

And Diamond says that this transitional time can lead to an enriched "second adulthood" in which men may forge more intimate bonds with their partners. Sounds pretty ThirdAge to us.