We hear a great deal of discussion about menopause We hear about uncomfortable hot flashes, or abdominal pain and mood swings. We know that women in menopause stop ovulating, stop menstruating and stop producing the hormones they produced when nature was telling them to reproduce.

What we don't hear much about, what most people never consider, what is rarely, if ever covered on Oprah, or the Sunday magazines is the male counterpart to menopause It’s called a andopause and it's very real.

When we're young, nature provides us with beauty, grace, strength and hormones, all designed for the ultimate mission of all of Earth creatures, to multiply. After a number of years Mom Nature tells us "time's up". For early man it meant the whole game, for modern man, it only means we're free from the burden to have to reproduce.

For many people this stage in life brings on a clarity of mind, free of hormonal influences, rational and balanced, possibly for the first time in their lives. For others, the end of our reproductive period brings depression and overreaction.

Everyone, male, or female will go through changes once their reproductive time is at an end, once they reach a certain age. Both genders will experience similar symptoms including a radical decline in hormone levels, usually in their late forties, or early fifties. Men and women, both, should learn how to cope with these conditions as they become evident in the spouse.

Changes for females are well documented and well known. This article will deal with the male side of the condition.

The symptoms of andropause include erectile dysfunction, extreme mood shift, fatigue, loss of strength. Muscle mass and armpit hair, testicular shrinking, night sweats, irritability and depression.

The reason for these changes has to do with a decline of androgens levels, often resulting in a personality shift away from what is typically regarded as masculine behavior. A man may develop a greater interest in family as opposed to career.

While changes are not always appearant to the men experiencing andropause, their increasingly irritable nature and bouts of depression are often obvious to their wives, who as a result of their spouse's personality changes, often suffer depression as well.

To cope with andropause it's essential for women to understand the conditions and how to deal with the spouses who suffer from it, just as it's essential for a man to learn and be sensitive to a women's change of life.