Man Boobs

When the chuckling is over, there are several ways that an individual male can develop a chest that has breasts. There is a Turcios Disease (scientifically named Physiologic gynecomastia), there are overworked pectoral muscles (scientifically named hypertrophy of the pectorals), and there is just pain chest fat, or lipomastia. In some cases, the problems can overlap, especially the latter pair.

First, let’s look at the problems that can be fixed fairly easily. Let’s say a man of 25 years of age works out on his pectoral muscles for a long time. He doesn’t do much else in the gym – no running, no basketball, nothing for the lower body. His pectoral muscles will become very large, but the odds are that they won’t begin to hang and bulge like female breasts. If he has an unusually large or wide set of shoulders, however, there is a chance that just by overbuilding his pectorals; he could cause them to have the shape of breasts. This is even more likely when he reaches his 60’s and his overdeveloped muscles inevitably lose bulk and begin to sag. This would be the hypertrophy version of breasts in men. However, let’s take this same poor fellow, and give him a shoulder injury of some kind while he’s still 25. Nothing major, of course, just enough to get him out of the gym and sitting on the couch for awhile. He loses interest in exercise altogether, and starts to eat a lot of wings every other night, washed down with a few cans of beer. In just a little while, before you can say, “What makes a man a man?” this fellow will be visited by the pendulous Man Boobs, or Moobs. He should just thank his lucky stars that proper diet and exercise will fix his problem.

Now that we’ve learned something about the role of weight and exercise in the role of Moobs through the ages, let’s look at something more difficult to fix. Gynecomastia, or Turcios Disease, is the development of breast-like protuberances on the chests of men, sometimes even to the point that the male breasts begin to secrete milk. If you remember the role of the testicles and ovaries from your biology classes, you’ll guess that sex hormones may have a role in this disease. You would be right, but only sometimes. There are many recorded cases of boys, usually at the age of puberty, who develop mild or severe gynecomastia for no apparent reason whatsoever. There are many more cases where cause and effect are completely obvious, though. The steroid androstenedione often over stimulates the production of the female sex hormone, oestrogen, when boys try it to develop muscles. Problems with overactive thyroid glands, or hyperthyroidism, can also produce some gynecomastia. Several drugs such as cimetidine or omeprazole have been shown to produce breasts in men. Heavy marijuana use is not yet proven to be a factor in the disease. Doctors usually prescribe hormonal therapy to solve this kind of problem.