The latest research has ultimately shown that the heart
failure may substantially accelerate the aging process in men and may bring on
early andropausal syndrome -- male menopause.
Professor Ewa A. Jankowska of the Wroclaw Medical University
in Poland said as men get older they are more likely to suffer from andropause,
also called male menopause, or a deficiency in the male sex hormones such as
testosterone.
The symptoms of andropausal syndrome can be divided into
three categories: sexual, psychological and somato-vegetative.
Sexual symptoms include: erectile dysfunction, problems with
libido, decrease in beard growth, feelings of "having passed the zenith of
life;" psychological symptoms include feeling discouraged, depressed,
irritable, anxious, nervous; and somato-vegetative include joint and muscle
complaints, sweating, need for more sleep, sleep disturbances, weakness,
exhaustion.
"Andropausal syndrome leads to poor quality of life. We
wanted to discover whether heart failure increases andropausal syndrome and
whether additional androgen therapies could improve quality of life in heart
failure patients," Jankowska said in a statement.
The researchers compared 232 men (aged 40 to 80 years) with
stable, systolic HF (based on the New York Heart Association [NYHA] class) with
362 age-matched healthy men. According to data, their andropause symptoms
(psychological, sexual and somato-vegetative) were categorized by their
severity and analyzed using the Aging Males’ Symptom (AMS) rating scale.
The study found andropausal syndrome affected almost
one-third of men with heart failure, regardless of their age group. In men ages
40-59, heart failure led to a four-fold increase in the prevalence of
andropausal syndrome and an increase in the severity of sexual and
somato-vegetative andropausal symptoms. Men ages 60-80 with and without heart
failure had a similar prevalence of andropausal syndrome and severity of
andropausal symptoms, the study said.
The study authors concluded heart failure accelerated the
natural process of aging and favors early onset of andropausal syndrome.
It has been suggested that the anabolic hormone deficiencies
in heart failure could be caused by heart failure treatments, which could
affect the metabolism of hormones, or comorbidities, which might impair
endocrine gland function. But in a second abstract the research group found few
and weak associations between the presence of anabolic deficiencies,
comorbidities and therapies in men with systolic heart failure. Professor
Jankowska said: "This shows that it is the heart failure itself which
impacts on the functioning of the endocrine glands."
She concluded: "Further research is needed to determine
whether androgen supplementation can reduce the severity of andropausal
symptoms."
Sources and Additional
Information:
http://www.healio.com/endocrinology/reproduction-androgen-disorders/news/online/%7B66f6a01d-bf9b-43bc-ac2f-f5e8c8079adb%7D/heart-failure-may-provoke-andropause-symptoms
