At what age does male sexual function decline?

As boys get older, their sexual function begins to decline. We need to understand the reasons so that we won't be too anxious if abnormalities occur. So at what age do boys begin to experience a decline in their sexual function?

1. Age-related changes in the function of male testicles

Human decline is closely related to the function of human sex hormones. Although the time of decline is different for each person, it will occur sooner or later. Men will experience the whole process of decline of sex hormones between the ages of 40 and 55, which will mainly manifest in changes in mentality, psychological state, interests, vitality, appetite and sexual desire.

Before other internal organs decline, male testicular tissue undergoes degenerative changes, which are mainly manifested by the slow development of idiopathic shrinkage of male testicles. This can be confirmed by testicular biopsy. The age and rate of physiological decline of male testicular tissue usually vary from person to person and have physical differences. The general development trend is that such changes intensify with age.

Degeneration causes the original membrane and basement membrane of the seminiferous tubules to thicken, and then the spermatogenic epithelial cells become soft, the diameter of the seminiferous tubules shrinks, and the lumen is blocked. Some chemofibroblasts gradually form in the pericellular matrix of the somatic cells, causing some adjacent seminiferous tubules to completely fibroblastize, while others remain normal. Degenerative changes in the male testicles are often accompanied by a decrease in blood circulation, which in turn leads to a decrease in the total number and quantity of sperm, an increase in the percentage of sperm without charm or abnormal sperm, and a certain decrease in the quality of seminal plasma.

The decrease in male testicular net weight and volume, the decrease in androgen specificity, and the low function of the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, adrenal glands and sex hormones are all related to male testicular decline. The rapid growth of male testicles has brought about many wonderful changes to the body, and now its slow decline will also have a key impact on the whole body. This change in shape and physiology will become more and more obvious after the age of 50, while the subjective feeling of decreased sexual function in women during menopause is similar to about 10 years earlier.

2. Age-related changes in men’s reproductive organs

The number of folds of the seminal vesicle mucosa of elderly men decreases, and the thick muscle layer shrinks and is replaced by connective tissue. The excretion volume of the seminal vesicle is 1.8ml in the teens, rises to 5ml in the young adult period, and drops to around 2.3ml after the menopause of women. After the menopause of women, the squamous epithelial cells of the male prostate gradually change from columnar to cubic, the muscle tissue in the tissue disappears, and is replaced by high-density fibrous cells, and some lobules show significant shrinkage and brittleness. In addition, the alveoli are hypertrophic and the glandular epithelium loses metabolic specificity. In short, due to the gradual brittleness of the attached sex hormones, the sperm density will decrease, and the male sexual function will also show a significant downward trend.

3. Age-related changes in male genitalia

The length and diameter of the penis of the elderly are slightly reduced, which is an inevitable condition in the whole process of aging. There are two cases of penis atrophy and shrinkage. One is that the penis is smaller than the young stage when it is normally softened. It is one of the main manifestations of systemic degeneration and is the cause of the softening of the skin and subcutaneous tissue of the penis. This condition does not necessarily affect sexual function; the second is that when it is erect, the penis size is smaller than the young stage. This may be due to arteriosclerosis in the elderly and blood cannot flow smoothly into the penis. This condition will always affect the ability to erect, and requires treatment when it is more serious.