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Large breasts embarrass teenage boy

Q&A

Dear Dr. Donohue: I am a 16-year-old boy, and I have large breasts. I don't know what I can do, and I turn to you for help. -- R.A.

Dear R.A.: What you have is enlargement of the male breast (gynecomastia; GUY-nuh- coe-MASS-tee-uh).

During puberty, with the surge in hormone production, there is often an imbalance between male and female hormones. (Men also make female hormones, and women make male hormones.) It happens to most boys. Some have a greater imbalance than others, but the condition almost always rights itself with time. Nearly 75 percent of boys with noticeably large breasts will experience a regression of breast size within two years from the start of breast growth. By three years, more than 90 percent will no longer have large breasts.

In a few instances, breast enlargement is a sign of trouble. Liver, kidney and thyroid gland disorders can cause it. So can cancers of the testicles. Abnormalities of the pituitary gland, the small gland at the base of the brain that oversees the body's hormone production, are another possibility. Some medications do it. So can marijuana.

The remedy for most teenage boys is patience. In your case, however, your parents should take you to the family doctor to make sure nothing is amiss and to recommend the services of a surgeon who can remove the breast tissue with little or no scarring. Psychologically it would be in your best interest to have the overgrown breast tissue removed.

Dear Dr. Donohue: I have allergy symptoms quite badly and have been advised to take allergy shots for them. Do they really work, and how long does a person have to take them? -- S.C.

Dear S.C.: Decades and decades of use prove that allergy shots work for 90 percent of allergy patients.

The allergy or allergies are identified usually through scratch tests. Drops of liquids, each containing an allergy suspect, are placed on the skin of the back. If a person is allergic to the material, a red hive appears in about 15 minutes.

All of the substances that caused a hive are listed, and a serum is made containing those materials. A dilute preparation of the serum is used for the first allergy shot. Over time, the dose of serum increases until a maintenance dose is reached. At that point, the frequency of shots is lessened. It takes a month or more for shots to control symptoms.

Dear Dr. Donohue:During a recent physical exam, my blood pressure was up. My dad died from a stroke at age 52. Hearing that, the doctor insisted I get a kidney scan. He said that the large kidneys could cause the rise in blood pressure. How? -- S.Q.

Dear S.Q.: Your doctor was talking about polycystic kidney disease. It's an inherited disorder in which the kidneys are enlarged due to many kidney cysts. High blood pressure is part of the polycystic kidney disease picture.

Read more of Dr. Donohue at health section, heraldtribune.com. Readers may write Dr. Donohue at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475.

Last modified: December 31

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