Breast Leakage
Facts About Breast Leakage In Women
Most people know that breast leakage can happen before, during and after pregnancy. But this can also happen for several reasons, when a woman isn’t pregnant and sometimes this is an indication of another medical problem. In fact, the only time it is medically acceptable for breast leakage to happen is when a woman is or has been pregnant. So any woman, who suffers from this, should be examined by a doctor to rule out anything that could be life threatening.
While pregnant, a woman has an off white frothy type of breast leakage. With other conditions, the leakage can appear much different and it can even contain blood. There are many things that can cause non pregnancy related breast leakage.
Thyroid disease can cause breast leakage and it is caused by an over or under production of hormones distributed within the body. People who suffer with this illness can have a goiter or growth in the thyroid gland. These growths are also called nodules and women who have these as a symptom are known to also have breast leakage. Sometimes, these nodules are actually cancerous but in most cases, they are not. If they are cancerous or causing further problems, they can be surgically removed.
Breast cancer is a disease that develops in the breast tissue and it produces lumps within the breasts. It starts in the milk ducts and it can spread to other areas of the body. It also causes breast leakage. A breast lump does not necessarily mean that you have cancer. So any lump found on the breast area should be examined by a doctor to rule this out. When these calcium deposits and tumors do spread, they can go to other organs, lymph nodes and through the blood stream. If the cells have spread to other areas, this is called advanced or metastatic cancer. Some types of breast cancers are slow growing and can take years to spread out from the breast area and other types spread rather quickly. Men can suffer with breast cancer too but they aren’t as likely to get it. Women who are over fifty are at the highest risk for this disease but it can occur in women as young as thirty nine. If the breast cancer is quickly diagnosed the disease can be controlled.
If fluid is leaking from both breasts at once, this can be a problem with the endocrine. But most likely this is a drug reaction. Certain drugs can cause breast leakage and they include Prozac, birth control drugs and other types of prescription drugs. People who suffer with breast leakage due to medications usually have other negative symptoms from these drugs. So if the drainage is not the only negative symptom, you should discontinue using it and talk to your doctor about another type or prescription.
A rare disease called prolactinoma is a non cancerous condition that happens to women during the childbearing years. It is a tumor that makes a hormone called prolactin. The result is blood that contains too much prolactin. The symptoms include breast tenderness, the stopping of menstruation, infertility and abnormal breast leakage or milk flow draining from the nipples. Most of the time, women are not treated for this disorder. But on occasions, surgery has to be done because the tumor has caused a decrease in vision. Prolactinomas mostly occurs in people who are under the age of forty. It is commonly seen in women and many of these tumors never grow. If the tumors start to bleed or if they re grow after surgery, further medical help will be needed.