7 Common Causes of Gynecomastia Explained

Gynecomastia is an embarrassing medical condition affecting the lives of millions of men around the world. 

In this article, I will be sharing 7 causes of gynecomastia that you may first read or known. Everyone’s gynecomastia condition is different for everyone, so my disclaimer is that not all of these causes true to everybody.

Low Levels of Testosterone

Low testosterone levels can be caused by a number of factors, such as disorders of the male sex organs. When there is a decrease in testosterone levels, it tips the balance thus increasing the amount of estrogen in the system. This results to enlarged breasts because it causes the proliferation of glandular tissue of the breast.

Alcoholism

A glass of wine is okay every now and then, but doing too much can ultimately cause testosterone levels to drop resulting to the relative increase of estrogen. This decrease could last for as much as 12-20 hours. But if you continuously consume alcohol every day, this can lead to a permanent decrease in male hormone levels resulting to gynecomastia formation. Alcohol is also high in calories therefore aggravating the problem as it also increases fat deposits in the chest.

Renal Failure

Gynecomastia that is associated with renal failure is due to the dialysis treatment. Studies have shown that patient who suffered with chronic renal failure and treated with chronic intermittent hemodialysis experienced breast tenderness and gynecomastia due to hormonal changes. Also those men who have end stage renal disease may experience reduced testosterone levels. 

Liver Cirrhosis

Liver problems and the medications used for this particular medical condition causes hormonal fluctuations resulting to gynecomastia. In a study done by Cavanaugh et. al. correlating gynecomastia and cirrhosis of the liver, the researchers established that the prevalence of gynecomastia in cirrhotic patients was 44%.

Effects of medications

Hormones are easily affected by any medication that you introduce to your body. There are some that increase testosterone levels, while there are also others that decrease it. Unfortunately these side effects come with the benefits that these particular medications bring and this includes diuretics, calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors, antibiotics, anti-ulcer drugs, and antidepressants. Abruptly stopping the drug would not be advisable because this could result to serious complications. That is why before doing anything else, it is important to discuss this first with your primary care physician so he can prescribe you with an alternative.

Tuberculosis

It may be largely viewed that tuberculosis causes gynecomastia, but the truth of the matter is that the treatment process is the reason for bringing about this change. Reports show that gynecomastia occurred only after treatment. Although it does not always follow that gynecomastia results after tuberculosis treatment, there are those who develop this reaction. And this is because it is a rare adverse reaction to the anti-TB drug, isoniazid.

Testicular Tumors

Tumors in the testicular area can cause an increase in blood estrogen levels. These estrogen secreting tumors includes Leydig cell tumors, Sertoli cell tumors, adrenal tumors and granulosa cell tumors.  This estrogen overproduction eventually alters the shape of the male chest resulting in man boobs.

Source (s) and Citation (s)


Cavanaugh J. et.al., (1990). Gynecomastia and Cirrhosis of the Liver. Abstract retrieved from JAMA Internal Medicine.