More men seeking breast reduction due to hormones in tap water

August 17, 2005

Hormones in water blamed as more men seek breast reduction

by -Kate Templeton

August 3, 2005, London: A SHARP rise in the number of men requesting

breast- reduction operations is being blamed by surgeons on the

effects of excess female hormones in tap water and food.

Clinics are reporting a doubling in the number of operations being

carried out over just one year. According to surgeons, the male

breasts examined are similar in structure to those of women and are

not simply fat deposits caused by overeating.

They believe the condition, called gynecomastia, is caused by traces

of the female contraceptive pill in tap water and hormones used to

promote the growth of farm animals.

Yannis andrides, a surgeon at the Kosmeticos clinic in Harley

Street, central London, carried out one male breast reduction a

month four years ago but is now doing one a week.

" Hormones contained in the food we eat, particularly fast food, may

be one of the reasons why we are seeing this increase, " said

andrides.

Alan Kingdon, a cosmetic surgeon and medical director of the

Cosmetic Surgery clinic in London, has witnessed a similar increase

in demand. He has studied the material removed from men's breasts

and has found mammary gland tissue usually found only in women.

" We are seeing a group of male patients who have glandular tissue

growing in their breasts that are feminine in appearance, " he

said. " This group of patients appears to be on the increase.

" I can only speculate as to the causes, but I would suspect that the

use of oestrogen in the food chain is a factor. "

Professor Kefah Mokbel, a consultant breast and endocrine surgeon at

London's St 's and Princess Grace hospitals, said he was now

treating about 150 men a year for breast reduction.

A survey carried out by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic

Surgeons found that in 2003 its members carried out 22 male breast

reductions which in 2004 rose to 53.

Female hormones in the environment have also been blamed for falling

sperm counts among British men. Samples taken from 7,500 men

attending the Aberdeen Fertility Centre between 1989 and 2002 show

that sperm concentrations fell by almost a third.

(Source : The Sunday Times - Britain)

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