Moody men blame their hormones

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

Seems low T may make men moody.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1844000/1844648.stm

Moody men blame their hormones

Scientists may have come up with an explanation for why men become grumpy and

irritable. They can't help it - they are

just suffering from " irritable male syndrome " . Men's mood swings may be down to

a sudden drop in the male hormone

testosterone which, the theory says, affects their brain and therefore

behaviour. Some scientists believe that

middle-aged men go through a menopause, as women do. But Gerald Lincoln of the

Medical Research Council's Human

Reproductive Sciences Unit in Edinburgh believes stress can cause men of any age

to suffer testosterone levels to

plummet, affecting their mood and behaviour.

It is difficult to tie in mood with hormone levels, because mood is a very

subjective thing Although very little work

has looked at the relationship in humans between stress and testosterone, many

studies in animals, including primates,

show that testosterone levels fall when stress increases levels of a hormone

called corticosteroid. Dr Lincoln, whose

work is featured in New Scientist, first identified irritable male syndrome in

Soay sheep. In autumn, rams'

testosterone levels soar and they mate. In the winter, testosterone levels fall

and they lose interest in sex. He found

that even though testosterone is supposed to be linked to more aggressive

behaviour, the rams were more likely to injure

themselves when their levels of the hormone were low.

Sheep study

Dr Lincoln followed the behaviour of eight rams, including how often they struck

out with their horns. He found that as

testosterone levels fell, rams became nervous and withdrawn, striking out

irrationally. Dr Lincoln has observed similar

changes in behaviour in red deer, reindeer, mouflon and Indian elephants. In

human males, it is suggested a drop in the

hormone is significant because the brain is loaded with receptors for

testosterone and its conversion products, which

will be affected if levels fall.

Dr Lincoln told BBC News Online: " We're trying to redress the balance. This

phenomenon is well described in women

because of their cyclic biology " . But he said men's hormone drops were linked

to stressful experiences such as

bereavement, divorce or life-threatening illnesses could affect testosterone

levels. Dr Lincoln said antidepressants

may be able to help some men, but that it was crucial to recognise irritable

male syndrome existed so that more research

could be carried out into the condition

Experts are divided over Dr Lincoln's theory.

, who is also at the Edinburgh unit, found that when men who

cannot produce testosterone come off

hormone replacement therapy, they become irritable and depressed. Their mood

improves when they resume treatment. And

Abbott of the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center in Madison said:

" Testosterone effects have been missed.

When a bloke gets grumpy and irritable, [researchers] try and explain it only in

terms of cortisol levels and

depression. They ignore the fact that testosterone levels are probably falling

too. "

Handelsman, an expert on male hormones at the University of Sydney, said

changes in testosterone levels in normal

adult men are far smaller than the dramatic swings seen in the Soay rams.

However, in men who are castrated as

treatment for advanced prostate cancer, levels fall by at least 90% and men

become more withdrawn, but more emotional.

Dr Ian Banks, president of the Men's Health Forum was also cautious: " It is

difficult to tie in mood with hormone

levels, because mood is a very subjective thing. " He added that although there

was an increasing awareness of the

impact of testosterone, there was not a universal agreement that men experienced

their version of a menopause.

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Good health & long life,

Greg ,

http://optimalhealth.cia.com.au