THE MALE CLIMACTERIC, ITS SYMPTOMATOLOGY, DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT

Abstract

During the past few years several articles¹have been published in medical journals about a syndrome occurring in middle aged men which has been termed the male climacteric. The syndrome has been characterized principally by nervousness, psychic depression, impaired memory, the inability to concentrate, easy fatigability, insomnia, hot flashes, periodic sweating and loss of sexual vigor. The chief basis for the diagnosis of male climacteric in published reports has been the similarity of the symptoms to those of the female menopause and the relief sometimes afforded by androgenic therapy. The claim has been made²that most men and all women pass through the climacteric during the fifth decade and that the diagnosis of male climacteric is frequently missed. Quite recently this concept has been popularized by Paul de Kruif in the July 1944 issue ofReader's Digest, and physicians are deluged with requests for treatment by hopeful readers.