If you’ve ever been too embarrassed to take off your shirt at the beach, you’re probably familiar with the term “man boobs.” At least thirty percent of males are affected by gynecomastia—the medical term for male breasts—in their lifetimes. In fact, it’s the most common condition affecting breast tissue in men—and it doesn’t happen only when you put on weight. Additional upper body fat, and certainly obesity, will contribute to a fuller chest, but men at any weight can develop gynecomastia, and the cause is most often hormonal. Specifically, it happens when there is an imbalance between male estrogen and androgens, due to either an increase in estrogen production, a decrease in androgen production, or both. This leads to an enlargement of glandular tissue behind the nipples, or the dreaded “bosom” effect.
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