My son is 14 and has breast enlargement (gynecomastia). The doctor says he needs some type of surgery.

The first thing you need to do is dump your doctor. Physiological gynecomastia or breast enlargement in young boys is very common. The majority of causes of breast enlargement in teens and adolescents need no treatment. The only reason to have surgery is embarrassment or poor cosmesis. Other than this reason, physiological gynecomastia can be observed- most cases resolve in a few years. 

Breasts can be shrunk with medications but these have severe side effects and should never be used in young adults.

If your son has only mild gynecomastia, simple observation is the best advice. For moderate gynecomastia, the ideal procedure is needle liposuction. Do not go to a surgeon who wants to perform any type of mastectomy, because this is not the standard of care today. Needle Liposuction, of course, will also cost you a lot of money.

If your son has no problems with his appearance, then the best suggestion is keep away from surgeons. Even though there are great plastic surgeons, mistakes often happen which sometimes are permanent and disabling.

Can I increase my breast size with natural supplements?

First, the fact- if you were not born with large breasts, then the only way to increase your cup size is with surgery. No question about it. 

All the hype about natural supplements and increased breast size is just a bunch of crap. Supplements that have been touted to increase breast size include camel’s milk, rhino’s testes, llama’s urine, fenugreek, fennel, wild yam, red clover, and black cohosh. The people who sell these supplements claim that these herbs contain phytoestrogens, which can increase breast size. This is hogwash. The amount of phytoestrogens is very small and may stop your hot flashes but growing breasts is another thing. 

There is zero evidence that any natural supplement can increase breast size. Just like there is no lotion or potion to increase the penis size, there is no natural supplement to increase breast size.

Moreover, if you eat too much of these herbs containing phytoestrogens you may also increase your risk of breast and uterine cancer. You can eat and rub all the natural supplements you want, the only thing you will get is a lot of disappointments. 

If you have the money, go find a competent plastic surgeon and get yourself a decent boob job. If you do not have the money, then learn to like who you are and be content with your breast size – and if your significant other does not like that philosophy- than P..S on him or her.

Drinking Green Tea does not Decrease Breast Cancer

The zeal with which North Americans are drinking green tea should be re-analyzed. Green tea and its extracts have been hyped up to cure everything underneath the sun (including the current economic woes). There are hundreds of green tea products on the market- some you can drink, others you can smell, some you can apply on your skin, others you can take a bath and yet others you can add to your regular enema.

Well, the latest study from Japan indicates that Green tea is Junk when it comes to breast cancer. The widely held belief that green tea can prevent breast cancer is just a myth according to this Japanese study.

Said Dr Motoli Iwasaki from the Epidemiology and Prevention Division at the Research Center for Cancer Prevention and Screening of the National Cancer Center in Tokyo, "Our findings suggest that green tea intake within a usual drinking habit is unlikely to reduce the risk of breast cance."


This study looked at close to 54,000 women who were surveyed for many years on how much green tea they consumed. At least 12 percent of the women drank less than one cup of green tea per week but the rest drank more than 5 cups of tea a day and some even drank more than 10 cups per day. After a follow-up of close to 14 years, the result showed that 350 women developed breast cancer and there was no correlation with how much tea they had consumed.


Iwasaki did emphasize that the research data was obtained before the diagnosis of breast cancer, "thereby avoiding the exposure recall bias inherent to case-control studies."

So for all green tea maniacs out there, listen up. Green tea is a great social beverage but as far as it medical healing properties are concerned- all that is a load of bunk.

The green tea business in North America alone is estimated to be worth close to $7 billion dollars.

The study is published in the October issue of Breast Cancer Research.