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Mr. 80 Percent

Episode 5: The manopause

From Mark Shanahan


Are you aware that testosterone is the food that fuels prostate cancer’s growth? I wasn’t either. What happens if you remove all of the testosterone from a man’s body? I find out the hard way. With a shot of a testosterone blocker in my backside, I’m temporarily castrated. Hello, manopause. My libido vanishes; I endure unbearable hot flashes; and what doctors euphemistically call “mood swings” are actually volcanic eruptions that freak out my family and alienate my friends. (Warning: Explicit language.)




Mark Shanahan can be reached at mark.shanahan@globe.com. Follow him @MarkAShanahan.