Gynecomastica is a taboo subject with many men. Men have a hard enough time talking about prostate cancer, but discussing their breast growth is just too much for many. However, many of us who are treated for prostate cancer experience breast growth, gynecomastica.
Despite how difficult it is to discuss it, gynecomastica is one of the symptoms that most bothers many of us. Besides being uncomfortable, or even painful, it is embarrassing to many of us.
Gynecomastica is not just the providence of men treated for prostate cancer. Newborn babies who are still being influence by their mother’s estrogens, adolescent boys who are experiencing hormone changes, certain illegal street drugs, liver disease, thyroid problems and lung, pituitary, testicular and adrenal cancers can all cause gynecomastica.
Gynecomastica is also caused by certain prescription drugs other than those prescribed for prostate cancer. Steroids, certain ulcer (cimetidine), heart (digitalis) antianxiety (diazepam and tricyclic antidepressants) and epilepsy (phenytoin) treatments can also cause gynecomastica.
Gynecomastica is also a very common side effect of many of the treatments commonly used to treat us, men with advanced prostate cancer. All the antiandrogen drugs both primary and secondary can cause gynecomastica.
Some men have enlarged breasts simply because they are overweight. Gynecomastica is not extra fat tissue, but it is an enlargement caused by the breast’s glandular tissue. This glandular tissue is located under the nipple, not spread around the entire breast as is fat tissue.
The growth of the glandular tissue is directly influenced by the hormones testosterone (and other male androgens) and estradiol (and other