Common causes of male breast enlargement

When a man has one or both breasts enlarged, he or she will often experience swelling and pain in the breast area. In severe cases, the condition may even resemble that of a woman's breast. Male breast enlargement can be divided into three categories: male adolescent breast enlargement, middle-aged and elderly breast enlargement, and idiopathic breast enlargement, depending on the cause of the disease. The causes of male breast enlargement are often related to emotional factors and autoimmune diseases.

This is a common symptom. The incidence of this disease in the normal population is about 32% to 38%. The incidence rate is even higher during adolescence, reaching 67%. The incidence rate of men over 50 years old is as high as 57%. There is basically no age limit for the onset of the disease. It can occur at almost any age, from seven to eighty-five. And in this case, there is basically no significant difference in the incidence of left and right breasts. Only bilateral breast hypertrophy is more common.

Causes of male breast hypertrophy: Male breast hypertrophy is divided into two types, one is primary male breast hypertrophy, and the other is secondary, and the causes of different types are different.

Primary: More common in children and adolescents, often due to physiological endocrine disorders, the plasma estradiol content is higher than the testosterone content, resulting in a one-time hormone imbalance, or increased sensitivity of breast tissue to estrogen. This situation will naturally subside after puberty. If it continues to enlarge, you need to go to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment.

Secondary: The cause of this condition is more complicated. It may be an endocrine disease, such as low secretion of male hormones, changes in the ratio of testosterone and estrogen in the blood, which can cause male breast hypertrophy. It may also be an adrenal disease such as adrenal cortical hyperplasia, benign tumors, malignant tumors, and functional decline. This type of tumor can directly secrete estrogen or produce too much estrogen precursors, which are converted into effective estrogen in the tissues, thereby causing an increase in blood estradiol and causing male breast hypertrophy.

Liver diseases: such as hepatitis, cirrhosis or liver cancer, these diseases will cause liver function decline, so it will cause breast hypertrophy.

Malnutrition: Malnutrition, especially chronic malnutrition, will cause a decrease in the secretion of gonadal hormones. When the malnutrition is corrected, a phenomenon similar to a second puberty will occur, and breast enlargement will become more serious.

Thyroid disease: Hyperthyroidism, the concentration of neutral hormone-collecting globulin in plasma gradually increases, the bound androgen is excessive, the free estradiol increases, the testosterone ratio increases, and the hormone balance is imbalanced, which leads to the stimulation of breast tissue proliferation and the occurrence of male breast enlargement.