Question: Therefore, is it important to question men past the age of 50 years?
Dr. Burté: Yes. Faced with sexual symptoms or simply fatigue, or among those who are a bit depressed, investigating a testosterone deficiency should be part of the reflexes.
Also, if you ask a man in general, “How is it going from a sexual point of view,” and he answers that everything is going well, this means he has good arteries, good veins, a good nervous system, sufficient hormones, and psychologically, everything is going rather well. Conversely, erectile dysfunction can be one of the first symptoms of cardiovascular pathologies.
After a certain age, there is no test that provides as much information about people’s health as this question about sexual health.
Question: On their side, are women better cared for at menopause?
Dr. Burté: Yes, but women still lack explanations. I work in sexual medicine, and in my consultation, I see women who come simply to get information about menopause.
Women must know that menopause is a turning point in life because they will spend 30%-40% of their lives without hormones.
It is important to explain that indeed, after menopause, without treatment, it is not the same. There are genital and urinary, psychological, sexual, and skin consequences. It is important to provide true data on the influence of hormonal treatments. Today, hormone fear is not over. I think we need to rehabilitate treatments, care for women.
Question: So we must not forget men or women.
Dr. Burté: Yes. It is also very important to adopt a perspective not only for the individual but also for the couple. If you treat a man with testosterone, after 3 months, he will be in great shape. However, if the couple has long been accustomed to having a limited sexual life, if the woman is not supported on her side, the couple will be unbalanced. The couple is concerned with managing the hormonal changes of both.
Question: Sexual medicine is essential, yet it seems inaccessible.
Dr. Burté: There are very few specialists in sexual medicine because there is no legal provision for it. These consultations are lengthy but not valued. Who wants to work for that?
If there was reimbursement for sexual medicine consultations at age 15 years, at menopause, and for men around the age of 50 years, it would change mentalities. Sexual medicine must be integrated into medicine. It should also be noted that not all sexologists are physicians.
Some people are very well trained through universities, and others are not. Ideally, someone with a sexual disorder should first have a sexual medicine consultation to understand the situation. Then, the physician can refer the patient to a competent sexologist because we work in a network.
Dr. Burté has no conflicts of interest related to the subject.
This story was translated from the Medscape French edition using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.