Hypogonadism is caused by your testes (if male) or ovaries (if female) producing little or no sexual characteristic hormones. Generally, for men this means a testosterone deficiency and women an estrogen deficiency.
Hypogonadism may occur anytime and its resulting symptoms vary a bit depending on which stage of life you’re in.
Hypogonadism occurring in boys causes:
- growth problems
- muscle scantiness
- no beard development
- impaired penis & testicle growth
Whereas, in men it’s the cause of:
- infertility
- weakness
- depression
- osteoporosis
- muscle atrophy
- breast enlargement
- erectile dysfunction
- beard & body hair loss
Now in girls, hypogonadism will cause:
- shortness
- amenorrhea
- no breast development
Hypogonadism occurring after female puberty, its symptoms include:
- low libido
- hot flashes
- body hair loss
- failure to menstruate
The cause of hypogonadism may be ovaries or testes malfunction. Or your hypothalamus and pituitary are not up to task, resulting in infertility and amenorrhea.
Turner syndrome and Klinefelter syndrome are the most frequent causes of hypogonadism if your testes or ovaries are responsible. Other causes for either testosterone deficiency and estrogen deficiency hypogonadism are:
- PCOS
- aging
- obesity
- infection
- HIV/AIDS
- liver disease
- kidney disease
- anorexia nervosa
- hemochromatosis
- pituitary disorders
- Kallmann syndrome
- extreme weight loss
- autoimmune disorders
- nutritional deficiencies
- long-term alcohol abuse
- orchitis, torsion, undescended testes
- drugs ~ opiate pain meds, some hormones
- tumors ~ prolactinoma, craniopharyngioma
- radiation, chemotherapy ~ leukemia, cancer treatment
- inflammatory disease ~ sarcoidosis, histiocytosis, tuberculosis
Often, hypogonadism is treatable, with favorable outcomes.
Hormone treatment to replace your testosterone or estrogen deficiency is available. In addition, hypogonadism in women experiencing an inadequate sex drive may be treated with a low dose of testosterone.
Menopause is a form of hypogonadism. It’s a natural occurrence causing ovarian failure resulting in estrogen deficiency. Some women with this form of hypogonadism opt to take estrogen therapy treatment to relieve their menopausal symptoms.
Most causes of hypogonadism are not preventable. But for the couple that are, maintaining a healthy weight, eating habits and alcohol consumption may preclude this cause of infertility or amenorrhea.