Developmental Issues
Man boobs can occur due to developmental issues during infancy, puberty or in old age. Over 50% of male babies are born with man boobs as result of estrogen from the mother being passed to the infant. The man boobs usually disappear a few weeks after birth.
Man boobs can also occur during puberty. During puberty, the male body goes through many changes. Man boobs can occur in teen males due to the fact that hormones are out of balance. The two hormones that need to be balanced in order to avoid man boobs are testosterone and estrogen. Testosterone is a hormone that is mostly produced in males, although produced in females as well. Testosterone is responsible for the development of body and facial hair, deep voices, sexual behavior and sperm cells. Testosterone is also responsible for muscle buildup, and for decreasing the recovery time in males after an injury. On the other hand estrogen is primarily produced in females, although produced in males as well. Estrogen is a hormone whose primary purpose is to develop secondary female characteristics such as breasts. If the hormones are not balanced, man boobs could result. There are two ways that the hormones could be imbalanced to promote the development of man boobs. The first scenario is that the male does not produce enough testosterone, and the second scenario is that the male produces too much estrogen.
The third developmental issue that can case man boobs is aging. As mentioned above, if the hormones are out of balance, man boobs could result. As a male ages, the production of testosterone decreases and it is said that testosterone production in males peak in a male’s early twenties. Since testosterone production decreases with age, there is a higher percentage of estrogen present in the body in relation to the percentage of testosterone which could in turn cause man boobs. In the next section, drug-related causes of man boobs will be discussed.
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