Any endocrine disorder that alters the female-male hormone balance can cause undesirable physical manifestations, like gynecomastia in males, or hirsutism (excessive body hair growth) in females. The adrenal glands, thyroid, liver, and reproductive organs are linked together when it comes to the enzymes and hormones they produce.
Hypothalamus has a major role to play in the control of secretion of hormones and enzymes – it tries to maintain the internal balance of the body. It is the command center of the brain that passes the message to the pituitary gland, which is another part of the brain that can directly stimulate the organs via the hormones it secretes.
Once the hypothalamus detects that there are excessive amounts of a specific hormone in the blood, it commands the pituitary gland to release another hormone that puts a stop to overproduction. The compensatory mechanism of the body activates the enzymatic or metabolic action of organs to convert a compound to a hormone that resembles another to compensate for the loss.
For example, when the testes are dysfunctional, there will be decreased levels of testosterone in the blood. The brain would signal the adrenal glands to produce sex steroids – the androgens. These hormones resemble testosterone, but can convert to estrogen and estrogen-like compounds that may cause gynecomastia and balding in males.
Androgens can be in the form of DHEA or androstenedione, which can be converted to estrogen when metabolized. There might be an estrogen-testosterone imbalance when there is a liver failure, as the liver fails to eliminate the excessive unnecessary hormone in the body.
The thyroid is another endocrine organ that mainly serves a metabolic role. An overactive thyroid means the organ secretes excessive thyroid hormones into the blood. This imbalance can cause increased heart rate, blood pressure and metabolic rate, irritability, and symptoms similar to sympathetic nervous system stimulation symptoms. The worst symptom is cardiac arrhythmia – irregular heart rhythm that can cause death.
Research suggests that with an overactive thyroid, there is also an increase in DHEA-S. DHEA, as mentioned earlier, is a steroid produced in the adrenals. DHEA-S and PREG-S, which can convert to estrogen, are also increased in pregnant women. This makes gynecomastia a possible sign of hyperthyroidism in males. However, an increased DHEA level in a woman will produce signs and symptoms resembling secondary male characteristics, like excessive body hair growth.
When two or more years have passed since the onset of the disease, the enlarged breast tissue can be surgically removed as the breast tissues will not return to their former state. It is necessary to treat an overactive thyroid to prevent unwanted irreversible signs, like the bulging of eyeballs. Hyperthyroidism is a serious condition that includes decreased calcium and phosphorus in the bones, resulting to osteoporosis. The calcium level is elevated in the blood, which causes diarrhea and electrolyte imbalance. This imbalance may impair the heart and kidney, as well as affect nervous system function.
The enlargement of breast tissues is less likely to occur than cardiac arrhythmia, fine tremors, diarrhea, irritability and insomnia.
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