Archive for June 2011
All of the diseases that occur in the female breast can potentially occur in the male breast. The incidence of male breast carcinoma was approximately 2,000 cases in the year of 2007 in the United States or approximately 1% of all breast cancers. This, of course, is dramatically lower than that in the female population. Thus, mammography has no medical use as a screening examination in males and an ultrasound technician can help. The indications for male diagnostic mammography and the image obtained are similar to those for females. Men tend to be diagnosed in advanced disease status and thus have poorer survival rates. The reasons for these late-stages diagnoses are they may not be aware of changes in their breasts, slow response to discovered changes, and they are not screened for breast cancer.
One benign male breast clinical situation that can be confused with breast cancer is called gynecomastia . Usually, adult men present with a tender subareolar breast mass, and it may be unilateral or bilateral. On mammography, there is breast tissue in the subareolar zone that may rarely contain classifications. The need for biopsy will be determined by a combination of symptoms, physical findings, and mammographic or ultrasonographic findings. There is probably no correlation between gynecomastia and carcinoma. Male breast carcinoma are similar in appearance to female breast carcinomas. They most commonly present as irregular or ill-defined solid masses. Pathologically, invasive lobular carcinomas are rarer in men than in women due to less developed lobular structures in men.
Listed are some common causes of male Gynecomastia:
1) common in the neonatal male
2) common in pubertal males
3) Adult men
a. Any underlying disease causing hormone imbalance such as liver of the cirrhosis
b. Drugs (digitalis, steroids)
c. Androgen deficiency as in aging.
If you breastfeed or express milk for your baby than your pediatrician has probably already counseled you on the importance of minimizing infant drug exposure. This may sound easy but when your head is pounding from an extreme migraine you will want to know what your best options are to avoid exposing your baby to chemicals that could be harmful. Here are a few tips that can help you make good medication choices and hopefully provide alternatives that are just as effective.
-Whenever possible, try to avoid the use of nonessential medications. There are several categories of medications and most that are prescribed by your physician should be safe for breastfed babies. However, if you can safely avoid taking medications for the period of time that you will be breastfeeding or expressing milk, then you will be protecting your child from any potential harm that those medications could possibly cause.
-There are many great non-drug therapies that can help you avoid the need for traditional medications. You may want to try some of these ideas:
1. Instead of analgesics: When that headache starts or your body is sore and you need a pain medication, consider trying some simple relaxation techniques like massage, aromatherapy, or a warm bath.
2. Instead of cough, cold or allergy medications: Coughs, colds and allergies are bothersome when you are breastfeeding because most medications are not recommended for nursing mothers. If you need some relief try using saline nose drops, cool mist, or steam. Also, be sure you are eating antioxidant rich foods and getting adequate sleep.
3. Instead of anti-asthmatics: If you have asthma, there aren’t many alternative options besides avoiding known allergens.
4. Instead of antacids: Antacids are actually counterproductive. If you have acid-reflux than you probably do not have enough hydrochloric acid in your stomach. You should consider taking a hydrochloric acid supplement, reducing your meat consumption and improving your mineral consumption.
5. Instead of laxatives: Eating high fiber cereals, prunes, vegetables, and drinking a lot of water during can help to relieve constipation.
Mother’s milk is the ideal food for any infant and should be more seriously considered for infants that are born preterm. Not every mother will want to breastfeed. However, if you are a mother of a preterm infant here are a few reasons why breastfeeding is the best option you can provide for your baby according to a lactation consultant.
1. Research has shown that infants born prematurely have increased morbidity and mortality rates if they are formula fed compared to infants that are fed human milk. This is likely due to the diverse nutrients and beneficial immune enhancing components of human milk. If a mother is unable to breastfeed her child, there are still other ways of acquiring human breast milk. Human milk banks are available throughout the country. There are also special preterm formula options that are better than regular formula.
2. Infants that are fed human milk have been found to have an easier time tolerating solid foods with fewer food allergies.
3. It takes preterm infants that are formula-fed twice as long for gastric half emptying to occur compared to breast-milk fed infants.
4. Breast milk contains the enzymes lipase, amylase, and lysozyme as well as others that are important for preterm infants with underdeveloped intestinal systems. These enzymes can help to speed up the maturation of a preterm infant’s intestinal system.
5. Preterm infants have been found to gain more weight in their bones and tissues compared to formula fed infants.
6. Human milk helps develop visual acuity and retinal health. Retinopathy is higher in formula-fed infants that are preterm.
7. Breast milk has also been found to help with the cognitive development of infants. Preterm infants that are fed breast milk have been shown to have higher IQs. This is due to the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids that are present in breast milk.
8. Breast milk provides valuable immune support which is beneficial for preterm infants that are often in special care nurseries and are frequently in contact with many different people.
There are several issues that can make breastfeeding challenging for mother or baby. Here are a few reasons why infants or mothers may choose to discontinue breastfeeding.
Infant-related causes:
Multiples: When multiple children are involved, there is a marked increase in the potential for early weaning, which can occur for several reasons. If one child has a difficult time breastfeeding, the other child or children could be affected. Having multiple children is a very exhausting job. Mothers of multiples may find it challenging to take the time to work with the child that is not nursing as well as the other(s). If the mother’s milk supply is not being expressed enough because of a sucking or latching on problem with one or more children than the mother’s milk supply will eventually decrease for all of the nursing children.
Often, if there is a problem with milk consumption due to proper suckling or latching-on then the child may show inadequate or inconsistent growth.
Maternal-related causes:
Many mothers choose early weaning because of pregnancy or birth complications that occur. Sometimes there is an underlying maternal condition that can cause delayed, infrequent, or insufficient milk emptying. This can result if there is a difficult breastfeeding schedule, ineffective breastfeeding, or inadequate compensatory milk expression.
Some women get confused with their infant’s breastfeeding patterns. Mothers of multiples may have a difficult time differentiating one infant from another. To help reduce confusion, it can be helpful to keep a breastfeeding log to note which child ate, at what time and for how long.
Nipple pain or damage can occur more often when a mother has two or more children to breastfeed. The more children there are to nurse the more likely that there will be ineffective breastfeeding. Also, ineffective breastfeeding is very common in preterm and near-term multiples. They often have immature suck-swallow-breathe coordination. With more than one infant to feed, it can be difficult for sore or damaged nipples to heal.
