Why do men have nipples? | The male breast

Why do men have nipples?

The male mammary glands are located underneath the nipples and are inferior to the female mammary glands in size and number, which can be explained by the hormonal equipment of the man. It is only through female hormones such as estrogen that the breast gland tissue is stimulated to grow. Lactation, i.e. the production of milk, also fails to occur in the male sex, as high concentrations of the hormone oxytocin are required for this. If the male mammary glands nevertheless enlarge, this is called gynecomastia.

Breast cancer in men

The topic of breast cancer is very present in our time and there is a lot of prevention, but always related to the female sex. In fact, there are also cases of breast cancer in men, although these occur significantly less frequently than in women. According to statistics, 1% of all new cases of breast cancer affect men. For How do you detect breast cancer in men? How to detect breast cancer in men?

Gynecomastia in men

Gynecomastia is an enlargement of the male breast gland. A distinction is made between real and fake gynecomastia. While the fake one is enlarged due to fat accumulation and mostly occurs in overweight people, the real one is characterized by growth of the breast tissue.

The trigger for a real gynecomastia is a derailed hormone balance in favor of the female sex hormones. Other subforms can be distinguished. The most common form occurs in boys during puberty, which is why it is called pubertal gynecomastia.

In this phase of life, the many changes in the body can lead to an increased production of estradiol.This hormone belongs to the group of estrogens and is considered the cause of this form of gynecomastia. Furthermore, age-related gynecomastia and pseudogynecomastia are also known. Both forms are based on a changing fat tissue mass/body tissue mass ratio.

Fat cells have the ability to convert male sex hormones into estrogens, which also causes the body’s estrogen levels to rise, thus stimulating breast growth. In the therapy of gynecomastia, the first step is to try to readjust the hormone balance. If this is unsuccessful, there is the possibility of a surgical intervention.