Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Obesity fuels growing `boy-boob' problem

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/men/article3964936.ece
5/20/2008

"Obesity has been blamed for the growing problem of "boy-boobs" – cases
of teenage boys with breasts so well developed that surgery is needed
to reduce them.

Doctors at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool say that they are seeing
dozens of teenagers every year with gynaecomastia, the condition in
which males develop breasts."

My wife came up with a term to describe them - 'Chesticles'.  ;)

Quote from: NickSister on May 20, 2008, 06:04:57 PM
My wife came up with a term to describe them - 'Chesticles'.  ;)

funny.  ha ha ha!

My personal favorite is moobs = man boobs.

Genuine gynecomastia can actually be a very traumatic condition, especially in a young person.  It's not just the result of obesity either--some people get it because of a genetic predisposition or because of other health problems.  Pollution has also been implicated in the rise.  I'm made uneasy by a newspaper choosing to use a flippant term like "boy boobs" to describe a distressing medical condition like this.

Yes, and gynecomastia has also been linked to the use of hormones in the meat we eat, as well as certain common drugs like Tagamet (cimetidine).

Kristi

Quote from: Lokaeign on May 20, 2008, 08:51:41 PM
Genuine gynecomastia can actually be a very traumatic condition, especially in a young person.  It's not just the result of obesity either--some people get it because of a genetic predisposition or because of other health problems.  Pollution has also been implicated in the rise.  I'm made uneasy by a newspaper choosing to use a flippant term like "boy boobs" to describe a distressing medical condition like this.

If they're traumatized by that, hate to see if they had a bleeding pussy.

Quote from: Nero on May 20, 2008, 10:13:33 PM
If they're traumatized by that, hate to see if they had a bleeding pussy.

lol

Ron White: There'd be none of this nonchalant "Oh I'm spotting." No I'd be running down the street screaming "my balls are bleedin! AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

I don't doubt that it could be very traumatic for some men that grow breasts. I feel a bit ashamed joking about it. It is like people laughing at obvious gender benders like myself. The irony is I would like to be one of those men, I'd be proud of my chesticals "your just jealous they are bigger than your girlfriend's!".

I wonder if they feel gender dysphoric? Would it be a similar feeling to what many of us felt being in a mismatched body?

Fat promotes the conversion of some of the free testosterone to Estrogen,
and that's the main reason for gynecomastia.

It usually happens in early puberty when T levels have not yet fully ramped up,
thus the resulting to T to E ratio resulting from T conversion is is low.
Higher T to E levels later in puberty lessens the impact of E and most often
the small breasts dissapears.

In some with susceptibility to E, they don't disapeer.
If you have substantial obesity, they also won't disapeer.

If your substially fat, the T to E level from the testes ouput is still not
enough to suppress estrogen's action on the receptor and fat accumulation
in female areas occur. Thighs, breasts, buttocks. The problem is once
there, those fats are very hard to get rid of unless E levels go down,
but they can't go down unless you lose mucho weight. Its a vicious
circle.

One solution is to build the muscle mass to increase metabolism and T.

Quote from: NickSister on May 20, 2008, 11:08:36 PMI wonder if they feel gender dysphoric? Would it be a similar feeling to what many of us felt being in a mismatched body?

Pretty much, yeah.  I have a close freind who suffered from this as an adolescent.  He didn't get surgery till he was 18, and it was a really painful, destructive experience that's had consequences for his confidence and self-image ever since.

Quote from: Nero on May 20, 2008, 10:13:33 PM

Quote from: Lokaeign on May 20, 2008, 08:51:41 PM
Genuine gynecomastia can actually be a very traumatic condition, especially in a young person.  It's not just the result of obesity either--some people get it because of a genetic predisposition or because of other health problems.  Pollution has also been implicated in the rise.  I'm made uneasy by a newspaper choosing to use a flippant term like "boy boobs" to describe a distressing medical condition like this.

If they're traumatized by that, hate to see if they had a bleeding pussy.

Yeah, but don't you wish there was something that caused "girl-dick" when you were a kid? :P

Dennis

QuoteIf they're traumatized by that, hate to see if they had a bleeding pussy.

I'm sorry, but I've been thinking about this comment and I'm afraid I find it rather dismissive.  I don't much enjoy having a bleeding pussy myself, but that doesn't mean I feel I can legitamately dismiss the genuine misery of people with other degrees or varieties of dysphoria.

Quote from: Lokaeign on May 21, 2008, 08:08:10 AM

QuoteIf they're traumatized by that, hate to see if they had a bleeding pussy.

I'm sorry, but I've been thinking about this comment and I'm afraid I find it rather dismissive.  I don't much enjoy having a bleeding pussy myself, but that doesn't mean I feel I can legitamately dismiss the genuine misery of people with other degrees or varieties of dysphoria.

That's true, Lokaeign, and I didn't mean to make light of it with my comment. We can't do a hierarchy of miseries. My girlfriend's son had gynecomastia as a teenager and it made his life likely as miserable as mine was when I was a teenager. It meant he was extremely uncomfortable in locker rooms, had to watch what he wore, and no doubt affected his self-image. He was an extremely depressed, suicidal teenager, as are many of us in our teenage years.

As NickSister said, I think it probably does have a lot in common with gender dysphoria, with your body developing the wrong way.

Dennis

Quote from: Lokaeign on May 21, 2008, 08:08:10 AM

QuoteIf they're traumatized by that, hate to see if they had a bleeding pussy.

I'm sorry, but I've been thinking about this comment and I'm afraid I find it rather dismissive.  I don't much enjoy having a bleeding pussy myself, but that doesn't mean I feel I can legitamately dismiss the genuine misery of people with other degrees or varieties of dysphoria.

Are you ftm? These guys can lose weight and get rid of their tits, I can't.

Quote from: Nero on May 21, 2008, 11:20:55 AM

Quote from: Lokaeign on May 21, 2008, 08:08:10 AM

QuoteIf they're traumatized by that, hate to see if they had a bleeding pussy.

I'm sorry, but I've been thinking about this comment and I'm afraid I find it rather dismissive.  I don't much enjoy having a bleeding pussy myself, but that doesn't mean I feel I can legitamately dismiss the genuine misery of people with other degrees or varieties of dysphoria.

Are you ftm? These guys can lose weight and get rid of their tits, I can't.

They can't all, Nero. For some of it it is breast tissue, and they grow breasts, not just fat. Surgery is the only solution for them. Mind you, it is more often covered by insurance, but still can't be a pleasant experience.

Dennis

Quote from: Dennis on May 21, 2008, 11:31:44 AM

Quote from: Nero on May 21, 2008, 11:20:55 AM

Quote from: Lokaeign on May 21, 2008, 08:08:10 AM

QuoteIf they're traumatized by that, hate to see if they had a bleeding pussy.

I'm sorry, but I've been thinking about this comment and I'm afraid I find it rather dismissive.  I don't much enjoy having a bleeding pussy myself, but that doesn't mean I feel I can legitamately dismiss the genuine misery of people with other degrees or varieties of dysphoria.

Are you ftm? These guys can lose weight and get rid of their tits, I can't.

They can't all, Nero. For some of it it is breast tissue, and they grow breasts, not just fat. Surgery is the only solution for them. Mind you, it is more often covered by insurance, but still can't be a pleasant experience.

Dennis

Oh I imagine it does suck.

If sensitivity to E is high enough, or if obesity is high,
the breast area is permanently changed. There
is some breast tissue.

While the nipple doesn't stand out, even if they
lose weight its not the same as it would have been otherwise.

QuoteAre you ftm? These guys can lose weight and get rid of their tits, I can't.

No, I'm not ftm.  I'm an androgyne with dysphoria.  Not being a man doesn't automatically equate to being happy and content in a female body.  I hate the body I live in to the point where I can hardly stand it anymore and I can't get rid of my tits or my (broken, painful, disabling) reproductive system either.

And not everyone with gynecomastia has it because they "got fat" or did something else wrong.  It's a medical condition that can have a number of causes, including a genetic predisposition.  Non-obese men get it too and they can't just get rid of their tits by losing weight anymore than an ftm man could just get rid of his tits by losing weight.

Quote from: Lokaeign on May 20, 2008, 08:51:41 PM
I'm made uneasy by a newspaper choosing to use a flippant term like "boy boobs" to describe a distressing medical condition like this.

the media is an ass

Obesity, in children in particular, is a very serious health problem.  This is but one side effect, but it time for people to start taking it more seriously.

[rant]
Honestly I don't see what the big deal is of making light of a situation. I don't know if you've looked through the ftm section but you'll see plenty of threads where we try to deal with boobs that feel as foreign and unnatural to us as it does to these guys, so I don't think we can be accused of not understanding the pain they go through. But you also have to realize that I for one have been dealing with this since puberty. This is daily life for me so I'm sorry if I can't come up with something deep and insightful to say.

Yeah they may have a low self esteem, guess what people with perfectly fine bodies do too. And would you believe that there are guys with this condition who have no self esteem issues?  Yes, they're out there, trust me.

I'm not saying that everyone should joke around and not take this seriously, but I'd like to think that (especially on this forum) there'd be enough understanding to see why some of us may not hold as much sympathy for these guys as others.
[/rant]

Well maybe i shold start eating more...lol