Gynecomastia is very common among men with some rough estimates claiming that almost 50 to 70 percent of male population has got palpable breast tissues. A lot has been written about gynecomastia, its diagnosis and treatment. However, most of the doctors are remain elusive to the anatomy of the gynecomastia tissues. There have been several attempts and research to find out about the form and contour of glandular tissues.
Ideally a male chest should be flat with only the pectoralis muscle accentuated. In any gynecomastia patient, the male breast has got a pyramidal shape with feminine features. Male glandular tissue contains no lobules unlike female breasts. Most of the cases which surgeons come across has been present for more than a year therefore is quite fibrous in nature. Imaging and colour Doppler is used to study the symptoms.
Gynecomastia involves an enlargement of the male breast gland due to hormonal imbalance. It can also be result of pseudogynecomastia. Pseudogynecomastia is a condition where excessive fats deposit on the chest.
Causes and Symptoms
There are numerous reasons behind appearance of gynecomastia in males. Hormonal disorder is the most common reason behind gynecomastia. It can disappear within six months to one year but if it does not then treatment is required. Other causes of gynecomastia are malnutrion and recovery from malnutrition. Liver cirrhosis also alters the hormone levels and leads to gynecomastia. Any disorder of the male sex organ can result in decrease of testosterone levels and an increase in estrogen levels leading to this disease. Gynecomastia can also be a sign of testicular cancer in the patient. Other causes of gynecomastia include chronic renal failure and hypothyroidism. Some emdicines also cause gynecomastia such as aldactone, calcium channel blockers, some antibiotics, methyldopa, digitoxin and diazepam.
Glandular Gynecomastia Treatment
Gynecomastia caused by hormonal disturbance can go away within six months to two years. In some cases, the medicines being used which cause the disease are stopped to make the symptoms go away. Testosterone replacement has been used successfully in older men to treat gynecomastia. Clomiphene can be used to treat gynecomastia and is to be taken for six months. Medication has been found to be useful in treatment of gynecomastia in the early stages. In later stages of if medicines fail, then surgery is the only option to treat gynecomastia. Gynecomastia is not associated with any long term problem or complication and can be treated easily.