Gynecomastia Research

[Jay999]

Right, this question is mainly aimed at the doctors. We often hear that surgery is the only option to get rid of gynecomastia - My question is;
Does anyone know how much Research actually takes place on gynecomastia?

Perhaps if more took place a cure could be found

[Paa_Paw]

Some Diseases can be prevented with vaccines.

Other Diseases can be effectively treated.

The problem is that Gynecomastia is not a Disease. It is within the statistic norm.

I do not think anyone is looking for a cure for being normal.

What is pathological is the attitudes about Gynecomastia.

Widespread education and acceptance of the condition would be nice. Until then, you either get used to it or have surgery.

[headheldhigh01]

bambu and i have disagreed before on what constitutes normal.  in my view the fact gyne is "benign", something else in the big picture it is not really, doesn't change the fact it is not the developmental norm for men. 

if you search the net, you'll find a number of research papers, not as many as there could be.  but gyne's generally idiopathic, meaning it can't be specifically attributed to a single cause outside of hormonal fluctuations in general.  the fact it tends to stay put if that part is not addressed early on means there isn't really a cure as such, just room for improvement in prevention. 

[Jay999]

Some Diseases can be prevented with vaccines.

Other Diseases can be effectively treated.

The problem is that Gynecomastia is not a Disease. It is within the statistic norm.

I do not think anyone is looking for a cure for being normal.

What is pathological is the attitudes about Gynecomastia.

Widespread education and acceptance of the condition would be nice. Until then, you either get used to it or have surgery.

Actually it is NOT within the statistical norm. More people dont have it than do, making it irregular.

The fact that it's not a disease doesnt mean research can't take place on it.

Such example would be research into heart attacks. It's not a disease it can just happen if you're old or obese.
How about research into how best to treat a burn?

Research can be done on something that isn't a disease.

EDIT: I've just thought of a good example.

Some women have hair growth akin to that of a male. E.g beards. Research has been done on how to solve this problem and laser treatment was discovered.

[Paa_Paw]

Yes indeed, and we simply had to get used to Gynecomastia for centuries. Within the last few decades the various surgical methods have come together and male breast reduction has become commonplace.

Is that not progress?

[NH]

It truly is progress, but there are many who nor can afford the surgery or are not old enough to do so. Personally, I can't find a doctor to do it for me (I'm 15 in a week) until they say I'm "done with puberty", so there is absolutely no cure for me; I just have to wait it out for a few years, and it truly sucks since this really is the time that I'd prefer not to have it in my entire life.

Being the pessimist of the thread, I think it's great that there has been progress, but I don't think there has been enough yet. Surgery shouldn't be the only option; I mean, using the earlier example of woman with facial hair: those women can live with the hair, perform laser surgery (are there even age requirements?), or simply shave the hair. As gyne victims, we have the choices of wearing ridiculously uncomfortable compression attire, living with it, or having surgery at a later age: none are easy, and God knows that I can't wear a compression garment every day of my life so I don't feel like less of a man due to protruding  gynecomastia/poofy nipples.

I think the message the OP is trying to get across is that no attention is paid to gyne; it isn't accepted and barely anyone gives a damn to really spread the message about it if they don't have it because NO ONE understands how bad it is unless they've had it. My mom always tells me, "you look fine, they don't show" but when they're awkwardly protruding and changing the entire damn shape of my body I'm never going to be happy. For whatever reason, it seems like us gyne victims are just on our own; whether there is research going on, there is no clear effort displayed to discover new gynecomastia treatments virtually anywhere, and it's just disappointing that some plastic surgery procedures are focused on so much while others are blatantly ignored.

[Paa_Paw]

You have made some very good points.

When I was in my teens, My mother joked that if they got any larger she would have to buy me a bra. She meant it as a joke, I took it serious. It really hurt.

In my twenties, some guys fixed me up with a blind date. The young lady had breasts smaller than mine. The guys thought it was sooo funny. Actually she was a lovely young lady and we continued to date for some time.

Modern surgical techniques did not come along until I was nearing 50 years, by which time I had different priorities.

With the advent of the internet and the free exchange of information, I hoped that the truth about Gynecomastia would remove the associated stigma. Unfortunately, the reverse seems to be happening. Which is truly sad.

[Grandpa Bambu]

Actually it is NOT within the statistical norm. More people dont have it than do, making it irregular.

How do you know that? Do you have any documented proof (these statistics that you speak of)? Or are you just 'assuming' that more don't than do?

The fact that it's not a disease doesnt mean research can't take place on it.

Very true dude... maybe one day some research will be done.

Research can be done on something that isn't a disease.

EDIT: I've just thought of a good example.

Some women have hair growth akin to that of a male. E.g beards. Research has been done on how to solve this problem and laser treatment was discovered.

Gynecomastia has a treatment also dude....  A good PS with a sharp scalpel and a powerful lipo machine...

GB

[Jay999]

Actually it is NOT within the statistical norm. More people dont have it than do, making it irregular.

How do you know that? Do you have any documented proof (these statistics that you speak of)? Or are you just 'assuming' that more don't than do?

The fact that it's not a disease doesnt mean research can't take place on it.

Very true dude... maybe one day some research will be done.

Research can be done on something that isn't a disease.

EDIT: I've just thought of a good example.

Some women have hair growth akin to that of a male. E.g beards. Research has been done on how to solve this problem and laser treatment was discovered.

Gynecomastia has a treatment also dude....  A good PS with a sharp scalpel and a powerful lipo machine...

GB

No I don't have documented proof. But if you research a little you'll find out that the statistics are that it is not rare, but less than half the male population has it.

Now for the sake of arguement every single website could be wrong, however I know from first hand experience that it is not the norm during puberty. I've had 3 p.e classes since my gynecomastia developed totalling about 100 people. I have seen every single one of my fellow pupils shirtless and only 2 other people besides myself had it, not including pseudo-gynecomastia

My GP told me that in 16 years of practice only one of his patients with gynecomastia needed surgery, surely more would have had surgery? Again you could argue that they don't go to their GP - but i used to be one of the most shy people you would ever meet, yet even I managed to eventually pluck up the courage to visit him.

Again you could be skeptical. Could be a coincidence perhaps. But to me it seems fairly obvious that more males dont have it than do.

Do you really think if more people had it than not people with gyne would be stigmatised to such an extent? Would you not protest when one of your friends made fun of someone with gyne? I would, even if i didnt admit to having it myself. Now if over half my male friends had it too and one of the ones without made fun of someone with do you not think someone would atleast protest?

Or if you found out one of your friends had it would you not say 'i have it too' I did. Starts a chain really, if you eventually found out half your friends had it you wouldnt be so shy to take off your shirt infront of them.

As for there already being a treatment surgery is not a viable option for everyone. The body has the ability to get rid of gynecomastia by itself, proven by pubertal gynecomastia - perhaps with a little more research a way to trigger this could be discovered?

[Grandpa Bambu]

I've had 3 p.e classes since my gynecomastia developed totalling about 100 people. I have seen every single one of my fellow pupils shirtless and only 2 other people besides myself had it.

Yeah, I hear ya dude....  not many gyne cases in my P.E. classes either... 

As for there already being a treatment surgery is not a viable option for everyone. The body has the ability to get rid of gynecomastia by itself, proven by pubertal gynecomastia - perhaps with a little more research a way to trigger this could be discovered?

Never thought about that... maybe one day huh?

GB

[Jay999]

all we can do is hope.

Just a thought - imagine how much money a drug company would make if they could find an effective way to acheive this. assuming it involved drugs that is.