British scientists have identified the three key symptoms which - along with low levels of the male hormone testosterone - can be used to diagnose the condition.
The research is published in the respected New England Journal of Medicine and will reignite the row in the scientific and medical community about whether the condition exists and if it does, how common it is.
Unlike the female menopause, the male version affects only two per cent of men, according to the latest study by a team at Manchester University and Imperial College London.
They tested 32 different symptoms that could potentially be linked to the make menopause like fatigue, lack of energy, impotence and depression.
Three were found to have particularly strong links, indicating they were symptoms of a male menopause. They were: the lack of an erection in the morning, decreased sex drive and erectile dysfunction.
All three key sexual symptoms must be present together with low levels of testosterone in order for clinicians to diagnose male menopause and consider treatment with hormones, the researchers said.
Other symptoms with a weaker link to low testosterone levels included an inability to run or lifting heavy objects, an inability to walk more than 1km, and an inability to bend, kneel or stoop and loss of energy, sadness, and fatigue.
They concluded that a range of other symptoms were not linked with the male menopause and could be ruled out such as changes in sleep, poor concentration, feeling worthless and difficulty getting up from a chair.
Additional symptoms which the study was able to discount as not being related included changes in sleeping pattern, poor concentration, feeling worthless, nervousness or anxiety and difficulty getting up from a chair.
Lead author Professor Fred Wu, said that the diagnosis was still difficult to make as often men with normal testosterone levels had sexual dysfunction symptoms suggestive of the male menopause.
The study comes after other experts writing in the journal Drug Therapeutics Bulletin said there was 'no evidence' that the male menopause existed at all.
Co-author of the New England Journal of Medicine study, Ilpo Huhtaniemi, professor of Reproductive Endocrinology at Imperial College London, said: "There are the cowboys that believe that half of men need testosterone and there are sceptics who say it doesn't exist at all.
"The truth is somewhere in between. It does exist but it is quite rare.
"There is a very small subgroup of men who will benefit from treatment."
He said men who have sexual dysfunction symptoms but who have normal levels of testosterone can be reassured that something else is causing their problems and hormone treatment will not help.
