What Is Going On !

Less interested in sex lately? Is this a midlife crisis brewing? Or are you feeling the normal hormone changes associated with aging? Hormone changes are a natural part of aging for men. But male menopause is not an accurate description. Unlike the more dramatic hormone plunge that occurs in women during menopause, hormone changes in men occur gradually, over a period of many years, the effects of which are often subtle and not noticed until much later in life. Some men are never affected by lower hormone levels at all — while some have physical and psychological symptoms that can include changes in sexual function, energy levels or mood.

While there are many differences between male and female menopause, one similarity rises above tying men and women into one undeniably human knot of anatomical fate: all women and most men suffer from hormone depletion past a certain age. It should be taken into consideration that hormone replacement therapy is not a natural process, thus if it did not exist what would happen? Would a certain age point inevitably mark a genderless phase of life? Women would have low or no estrogen levels and men, since the number suffering from male menopause is allegedly increasing, would eventually lose their testosterone. Would the elderly become an androgynous human species, with only the once-reproductive parts of a woman and man? Would this breed make society reflect on the trivial gender wars and gender discrimination that exists today and wonder what it was all for?

Men go through aging male syndrome (AMS) between the ages of 35 and 65 when their hormone levels (especially testosterone) decline. Testosterone is a hormone that helps maintain sex drive, sperm production, pubic and body hair, muscle, and bone. The decline of testosterone is normal in healthy males as they age. Unlike women who lose their fertility (ability to get pregnant) when they reach menopause, men do not lose their fertility. But the hormone change may cause other symptoms. All men have different experiences — some men’s hormone levels go down more than others, and some men have more symptoms than others.

Treatment of low testosterone due to aging with testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) is controversial. The benefits of TRT are not clear, and it may increase the risk of prostate cancer. While certain men who have symptoms related to abnormally low testosterone may benefit from testosterone replacement therapy, it isn’t appropriate treatment for most aging men. While it has been shown to help some men with low testosterone, TRT has risks, especially for men with certain health conditions such as prostate cancer and heart disease — and it may not improve your symptoms. More studies need to be done to determine the effectiveness and safety of TRT in aging men, and who can benefit most from this type of treatment. As it turned out with hormone replacement for women, TRT may have possible long-term risks that are not yet known.

Talk to your doctor about sexual problems. Erectile dysfunction and other sexual issues are common as men get older. Your doctor can help you find the best way to cope. Medical treatment, lifestyle changes or changes to the dose or types of medications you take may help

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Tags: aging male syndrome, testosterone replacement therapy, male menopause, erectile dysfunction, testosterone, erectile disfunction, meopause

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It’s a story that is making waves around the world - a man from Oregon who claims to be pregnant. But is this the real deal or just an elaborate hoax?

It all started with an article on Advocate.com where a picture showing a seemingly pregnant man appeared and the man himself, Thomas Beatie, wrote that he is five months pregnant.

Beatie said in the article that he used to be a woman but kept his female reproductive organs following a sex change. He said he and his legally married wife are expecting a baby girl in July.

KATU News took a trip to Bend to see if we could find out whether the story is true or not.

Beatie and his wife, who live in an upscale neighborhood and own a business, were nowhere to be found. Neighbors said they have not seen them for days and one person said a TV crew, possibly from a tabloid, had been following their every move.

Despite all the media attention, those who know the couple are skeptical.

“Quite frankly, I think it’s a hoax,” said neighbor Ron Schlieper. “I saw him a few days ago and he didn’t look like that,” he said in reference to the picture from the Advocate.com Web site. “He was walking down the street with who I thought was his wife, Nancy, and I don’t recall seeing a belly. If that (picture was taken) a month ago, he would have been much bigger just a few days ago.”

Schlieper said Beatie’s wife told him that she was pregnant. Another neighbor said the couple left their house every week for fertility treatments in Portland.

The whole thing has caught people in neighboring businesses off guard.

“I couldn’t say that he looks pregnant,” said Bend resident Josh Love. “I can stick my stomach out and almost make it look like that.”

According to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, before Thomas Beatie was Thomas Beatie, he was a woman named Tracy Langondino. They sent us a picture from a story they did about his gay rights work when he lived there several years ago.

We hope to learn a lot more about this story in about two weeks. KATU has been in contact with the couple by phone and they said they would be able to talk more after their confidentiality agreement runs out with whoever it is they are giving their story to, which is likely a tabloid (tabloids pay for stories, unlike KATU News).

Courtesy KATU

Tags: advocate.com, TracyLangondino, thomas beatie, thomasbeatie, pregnant man, pregnantman, Tracy Langondino, pregnant man from oregon, pregnant man hoax