I was thinking.....

[combatwombat]

I have gynecomastia (at least i think, havent gone to a doc yet) and my brother who is 2 years younger than me is almost the poster child of a gynecomastia free chest.  And that got me thinking, why would he have no gynecomastia and i did? we were raised fairly the same, only he plays soccer and i stopped a few years back, but if gynecomastia is a gland thing, than that wouldnt affect.  So was thinking what else it could be, and i remembered that he used to eat fish a lot when he was a kid, and i didnt.  And if im not mistaken fish has a good amount of zinc which is needed for testosterone production.  Could this be it? or am i overthinking things and gynecomastia could be a predetermined thing before i was even born?  I mean i dont smoke, drink, take steroids, or any other drugs actually, and i have it and he doesnt. 

[drdeadlift]

Same here mate, both my brothers have tiny flat nipples, yet I had puffy nipples despite being the one that worked out and took care of his body.

It could be just genetics, but I recently found out after my surgery that my mum noticed the puffy nipples on me when I was about 12 after taking Metronidazole antibiotics for a bacterial stomach ulcer and after reading about the drug I found that one of the sides is Gynecomastia!

Did you take any meds when you were a teen, during puberty?

[combatwombat]

no, none at all.  I was one of those kids who didnt get sick, rarely got hurt, and only got shots that were necessary for school.  the only meds i took growing up were the occasional asprin or ibuprophen

[xoxoxoxo]

it sucks having a gynecomastia. i love working out at the gym but i stopped when i saw my chest getting bigger in which i couldn't hide it easily. Now i lose all the muscles i've worked for. I look skinny and didn't enjoy eating at all just to hide my chest easily.  Myyounger brother has a chronic case i must say, he's chest is very big but our difference is he's fat and i'm not. As of now he's not aware and insecure about it but i know that someday he'll realize that there's something wrong with his body. 

[combatwombat]

ah well, good luck to your bro to lose the fat, but we're stuck with only surgery

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

I have noted that gyne frequently runs in families -- fathers, sons, uncles, brothers, etc.  And yet, some family members get it and others don't.

We can drive ourselves nuts trying to rationalize what may have caused it -- something one person ate vs something someone else was exposed to.  Bottom line is that it is all conjecture -- it would be virtually impossible to prove in a scientific study.

Anecdotally, however, I have come to the conclusion that it is most likely due to several factors.  First, since it often emerges during puberty, then hormones must have something to do with it.  But we all go through puberty (and hormonal changes) and not all of us end up with gyne.  The second factor is a hereditary pre-disposition to the development of gyne.  In essence, each of us has different genetic make-up.  I believe that some of us have breast tissue on the chest (we ALL have some small amount of normal breast tissue) which is inherently more sensitive to the circulating estrogen that we all produce.  (Yes, all men produce estrogen, but in much smaller quantities than testosterone).

Thus, it is impossible to predict who among us will develop gyne until after it has grown.  And certainly, there are no blood tests or genetic tests (as of yet) which could predict it's development.

Obviously, the above discussion is only about pubertal gyne -- not gyne caused by side effects of medications or other medical conditions.

Dr Jacobs