Angina-like Pain: A Manifestation of the Male Climacterium

IN BOTH THE MALE and the female, at some period of life, a readjustment normally occurs in the body secondary to a change in the entire system of endocrine glands as a result of a lessening activity of the gonads. This change frequently takes place without distressing or untoward manifestations other than those to be expected as an integral part of the aging process. However, in a certain proportion of individuals, any of a number of unpleasant reactions may occur which are not infrequently confused with disease entities of one type or another. To such disturbances we apply the term climacterium, and in this sense it is used here. In a certain proportion of women the presence of the climacterium is generally acknowledged, perhaps because the cessation of ovulation and menstruation marks an episode in, but is not necessarily either the beginning or the end of that critical period.