Ksenia Urbanova, endocrinologist and specialist in preventive and anti-aging medicine at the European Medical Center (EMC), told socialbites.ca that unilateral enlargement of the mammary gland in men may indicate cancer.
“The enlargement of the mammary glands in men is called gynecomastia. Its distinctive feature is the painless symmetrical enlargement of the mammary glands. “Breast tumors in men are rare, but unilateral breast enlargement can be a harbinger of the development of bilateral gynecomastia and can also turn into breast cancer,” he said.
According to Urbanova, the main reason for the development of gynecomastia is the change in the balance of male and female hormones in the male body. If we are talking about mature men, an increase in the size of the mammary glands may be associated with a lack of androgens, steroid male sex hormones.
“Men taking certain medications for long periods should be careful – estrogens, human chorionic gonadotropin, spironolactone, flutamide, cardiac glycosides, isoniazid, ketoconazole, metronidazole, calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors, amphetamine, cytostatic cimetidine, diazepam, penicillamine, methyldopa, reserpine and tricyclics antidepressants,” the endocrinologist noted.
According to the expert, obese and elderly men are the most susceptible to the development of gynecomastia. Also at risk are men who have hormonally active tumors in their body: testicles, lungs, liver, intestines.
In addition, patients with a history of genetically determined diseases – Klinefelter syndrome, Kallmann syndrome, congenital dysfunction of the adrenal cortex, as well as men with renal or liver failure – are susceptible to enlargement of the mammary glands. Gynecomastia also targets men who abuse alcohol, use opiates and drugs, and smoke marijuana.
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