Lavender oil ‘may have led to boys developing breasts’ - Times Online: "Lavender oil ‘may have led to boys developing breasts’"
Researchers in the US believe that the oils may have hormone-like properties that lead to gynecomastia — the growth of breasts. When the boys stopped using the oils, the breasts disappeared. Writing in the journal New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers say that the repeated use of such oils may disrupt normal hormonal function.
The researchers, from the US National Institutes of Health and the paediatric department of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, say that the oils “may possess endo-crine-disrupting activity that causes an imbalance in oestrogen and androgen pathway signalling”.
They investigated this by growing breast cancer cells in test tubes and adding diluted extracts of lavender and tea tree oil. These experiments showed that the oils had activity that mimicked the female sex hormone oestrogen.
Essential oil are not recommended for use on children or pregnant women.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Various Treatments for Man Boobs
Man Boobs is curable but first, man boobs (aka gynecomastia) patients should check with their doctor to find out the cause of it. Please DO NOT self diagnose! You may not know any possibilities of underlying problem. The basic examination are physical, X-ray or ultrasound and blood test.
One of the potential cause of gynecomastia is medications. If the cause is medication, patients should talk with their doctor about revising any medications that are found to be causing gynecomastia; often, an alternative medication can be found that avoids gynecomastia side-effects, while still treating the primary condition for which the original medication was found not to be suitable due to causing gynecomastia side-effects (e.g., in place of taking spironolactone the alternative eplerenone can be used.) Other potential cause of gynecomastia are use of marijuana, increased estrogen levels and decreased testosterone production.
1. Medication
Selective estrogen receptor modulator medications, ie. tamoxifen and clomiphene, or androgens or aromatase inhibitors such as Letrozole are some of the available medical treatment options. However, these are not universally approved for the treatment of gynecomastia. Endocrinological treatment attention will help during the first 2-3 years.
2. Radiotherapy.
Radiation therapy is sometimes used to prevent gynecomastia in patients with prostate cancer prior to estrogen therapy.
3. Surgery.
When the breast tissue tends to remain and harden, then surgery (either liposuction, gland excision, skin sculpture, reduction mammoplasty, or a combination of these surgical techniques) the only treatment option. Take note, many American insurance companies deny coverage for surgery for gynecomastia treatment on the grounds that it is a cosmetic procedure.
4. Camouflage
Compression garments can camouflage chest deformity and stabilize bouncing tissue bringing emotional relief to some. There are also those who choose to live with the condition.
5. Natural Treatment
Natural treatment for gynecomastia is consisting of set of exercises which will burn chest fat, balancing the hormone level and special dieting program. This is the cheapest alternative treatment before you resort to surgery. You can find out more in man boobs natural treatment system.
One of the potential cause of gynecomastia is medications. If the cause is medication, patients should talk with their doctor about revising any medications that are found to be causing gynecomastia; often, an alternative medication can be found that avoids gynecomastia side-effects, while still treating the primary condition for which the original medication was found not to be suitable due to causing gynecomastia side-effects (e.g., in place of taking spironolactone the alternative eplerenone can be used.) Other potential cause of gynecomastia are use of marijuana, increased estrogen levels and decreased testosterone production.
1. Medication
Selective estrogen receptor modulator medications, ie. tamoxifen and clomiphene, or androgens or aromatase inhibitors such as Letrozole are some of the available medical treatment options. However, these are not universally approved for the treatment of gynecomastia. Endocrinological treatment attention will help during the first 2-3 years.
2. Radiotherapy.
Radiation therapy is sometimes used to prevent gynecomastia in patients with prostate cancer prior to estrogen therapy.
3. Surgery.
When the breast tissue tends to remain and harden, then surgery (either liposuction, gland excision, skin sculpture, reduction mammoplasty, or a combination of these surgical techniques) the only treatment option. Take note, many American insurance companies deny coverage for surgery for gynecomastia treatment on the grounds that it is a cosmetic procedure.
4. Camouflage
Compression garments can camouflage chest deformity and stabilize bouncing tissue bringing emotional relief to some. There are also those who choose to live with the condition.
5. Natural Treatment
Natural treatment for gynecomastia is consisting of set of exercises which will burn chest fat, balancing the hormone level and special dieting program. This is the cheapest alternative treatment before you resort to surgery. You can find out more in man boobs natural treatment system.
Why Some Men Grow Breasts | Newsweek Health | Newsweek.com
Why Some Men Grow Breasts | Newsweek Health | Newsweek.com: "What causes some men to develop breasts, and how it can be treated."
It was constant dread for Merle Yost. He was tortured with bras hung over his locker, the constant assignment to the "skins" team during gym class, and a particularly brutal nickname ("Tits"). "I learned really early to cover up and hide, and I spent the next 20 years wearing big shirts to cover my chest," he recalls.
The condition may be most devastating to teens, but it can strike at any age. In fact, nearly 50 percent of all men will experience gynecomastia at some point in their lives, according to Glenn Braunstein, the chairman of medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and the author of a recent New England Journal of Medicine article on the condition. Many sufferers don't know that gynecomastia is a medical condition caused by hormone fluctuations and weight gain. Nor do they know that exercise or weight loss alone may not be effective in getting rid of male breasts once they develop.
Before male readers start to freak, we should point out that gynecomastia is both treatable and benign, generally caused by hormonal ups and downs that can occur naturally during infancy, puberty and middle age.
While nearly 65 percent of boys in puberty will experience it to some degree, in 95 percent of those cases the condition will resolve on its own, says Braunstein. Adult-onset gynecomastia can sometimes be hereditary but is more commonly spurred by conditions like obesity, chronic kidney disease or an overactive thyroid, as well as by certain medications like steroids that cause hormone levels to shift.
Braunstein, a hormone expert, explains that when men gain weight, they're not just getting bigger; the extra weight is actually changing their hormone production—and not in a way that most men would like. By nature, fat tissue manufactures the female hormone estrogen, which in turn stimulates breast tissue—meaning that significant weight gain will always be associated with some sort of breast growth, even in men, according to experts. A person who's overweight will be fatter all around, and maybe even develop the excessive breast fat that doctors call pseudogynecomastia—the appearance of male breasts caused by fat alone. But Dr. Elliot Jacobs, a New York plastic surgeon who specializes in gynecomastia treatment (and who suffers from the condition himself), says that most really overweight men are developing actual breast tissue, not just some extra padding. Doctors say that virtually all obese men (those who have a body mass index of 30 or greater, experience some degree of breast growth
Plastic surgeons say the procedure today is easier, safer and more effective than it's ever been. The surgery ranges in price from about $4,000 to $10,000 and can take as little as an hour, depending on the size and makeup of the breast, which can range from puffed up nipples to more fully formed breasts. In some cases surgeons use liposuction to remove fatty deposits and glandular tissue, all through a "tiny nick in the skin"—about an eighth of an inch, says Jacobs, who has performed the surgery on more than 1,400 men. In more severe cases a surgeon may need to open up the breast to remove tissue and excess skin, and occasionally even reposition the nipple.
Braunstein says he encourages teens to wait until they've passed puberty before they seek surgery, but that it can be a "very good option" for those who are cosmetically concerned.
Many pediatricians worry that if surgery is done too early, the hormones that caused the breast enlargement could cause them to regrow
It was constant dread for Merle Yost. He was tortured with bras hung over his locker, the constant assignment to the "skins" team during gym class, and a particularly brutal nickname ("Tits"). "I learned really early to cover up and hide, and I spent the next 20 years wearing big shirts to cover my chest," he recalls.
The condition may be most devastating to teens, but it can strike at any age. In fact, nearly 50 percent of all men will experience gynecomastia at some point in their lives, according to Glenn Braunstein, the chairman of medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and the author of a recent New England Journal of Medicine article on the condition. Many sufferers don't know that gynecomastia is a medical condition caused by hormone fluctuations and weight gain. Nor do they know that exercise or weight loss alone may not be effective in getting rid of male breasts once they develop.
Before male readers start to freak, we should point out that gynecomastia is both treatable and benign, generally caused by hormonal ups and downs that can occur naturally during infancy, puberty and middle age.
While nearly 65 percent of boys in puberty will experience it to some degree, in 95 percent of those cases the condition will resolve on its own, says Braunstein. Adult-onset gynecomastia can sometimes be hereditary but is more commonly spurred by conditions like obesity, chronic kidney disease or an overactive thyroid, as well as by certain medications like steroids that cause hormone levels to shift.
Braunstein, a hormone expert, explains that when men gain weight, they're not just getting bigger; the extra weight is actually changing their hormone production—and not in a way that most men would like. By nature, fat tissue manufactures the female hormone estrogen, which in turn stimulates breast tissue—meaning that significant weight gain will always be associated with some sort of breast growth, even in men, according to experts. A person who's overweight will be fatter all around, and maybe even develop the excessive breast fat that doctors call pseudogynecomastia—the appearance of male breasts caused by fat alone. But Dr. Elliot Jacobs, a New York plastic surgeon who specializes in gynecomastia treatment (and who suffers from the condition himself), says that most really overweight men are developing actual breast tissue, not just some extra padding. Doctors say that virtually all obese men (those who have a body mass index of 30 or greater, experience some degree of breast growth
Plastic surgeons say the procedure today is easier, safer and more effective than it's ever been. The surgery ranges in price from about $4,000 to $10,000 and can take as little as an hour, depending on the size and makeup of the breast, which can range from puffed up nipples to more fully formed breasts. In some cases surgeons use liposuction to remove fatty deposits and glandular tissue, all through a "tiny nick in the skin"—about an eighth of an inch, says Jacobs, who has performed the surgery on more than 1,400 men. In more severe cases a surgeon may need to open up the breast to remove tissue and excess skin, and occasionally even reposition the nipple.
Braunstein says he encourages teens to wait until they've passed puberty before they seek surgery, but that it can be a "very good option" for those who are cosmetically concerned.
Many pediatricians worry that if surgery is done too early, the hormones that caused the breast enlargement could cause them to regrow
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