Heart failure (NS) in men, possibly accelerating the natural aging process, predisposes to the earlier manifestation of andropause symptoms – Polish scientists informed during the conference of the European Society of Cardiology Heart Failure 2013, which took place on May 25-28 in Lisbon.
Symptoms of andropause, the equivalent of female menopause, are related to the decline in androgen levels in the blood of a man with age. The clinical picture of andropause consists of three main groups of symptoms: in the sexual sphere (e.g. erectile dysfunction and decreased libido), psychological (e.g. discouragement, depression, anxiety, nervousness) and somatic-vegetative (e.g. muscle and joint pain, excessive sweating, trouble sleeping, weakness).
Anabolic hormone deficiencies (including androgens) are relatively common in men with systolic HF, but little has been known so far about the relationship between chronic heart disease and the symptoms of andropause.
Scientists from the Medical University of Piastów Śląskich in Wrocław and the Department of Anthropology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Wrocław) examined the severity of andropausal symptoms in 232 men with systolic HF aged 40-80 years and 362 healthy men of the same age. The researchers used the Aging Males’ Symptoms Scale (AMS) to assess the severity of andropausal symptoms.
In the 40-59 age group, andropausal syndrome was much more common in men with heart failure compared to healthy men (28% and 7%, respectively). On the other hand, in the 60-80 age group, andropausal syndrome was equally common in men with HF and healthy men. Researchers from Wrocław note that chronic heart disease probably accelerates the natural aging process of a man, thus causing the symptoms of andropause to appear earlier.
Previously, it was suggested that anabolic hormone deficiencies associated with NS may be associated with the use of drugs that may affect the endocrine metabolism, or concomitant diseases that disrupt the functioning of the endocrine system. However, subsequent studies of scientists from Wrocław did not confirm these relationships, which suggests that anabolic hormone deficiencies are a consequence and pathogenetic element of heart disease. (PAP)
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