What is mastocytosis? Mastocytosis is a benign proliferative disease of the breast tissue, neither inflammatory nor tumorigenic.
Pathogenesis: Modern medicine believes that the pathogenesis of mastocytosis is mainly related to endocrine hormone imbalance and mental factors, especially hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal hormone disorders. It is caused by a decrease in progesterone secretion and an increase in estrogen concentration, or a relative increase in estrogen concentration. It has also been suggested that it may be caused by increased sensitivity of breast tissue to sex hormones, increased local estrogen concentration in the breast and increased estrogen receptors. Ultimately, prolonged exposure of the breast to estrogen can cause disorders of breast enlargement and rejuvenation leading to mastocytosis.
The relationship between mastocytosis and age, occupation, diet, personality, menstruation, marriage and childbirth, pregnancy and delivery, and breastfeeding is not clear, but early age of menarche, high age of first birth, multiple abortions, short cumulative breastfeeding time and emotional instability are risk factors for mastocytosis.
Age of onset: Mastocytosis is closely related to age, with a relatively low incidence between 18 and 30 years of age, a higher incidence between 31 and 50 years of age, and a decreasing incidence above 50 years of age.
Factors influencing mastocytosis
1, diet Dietary habits and mastocytosis have a greater relationship, the lowest incidence of vegetarian-based food, the highest incidence of meat-based food, moderate incidence of meat and vegetarian in the middle, the regular consumption of fruit-based food has become a protective factor for breast disease.
The higher the level of education and occupation, the higher the prevalence of mastopathy. Teachers and authorities have the highest prevalence rate, while the unemployed have the lowest.
3, personality and emotions The prevalence rate of extroverts is significantly lower, while the prevalence rate of introverts is significantly higher. The relative risk of breast hyperplasia is significantly higher in people with unfortunate life events, depressed sex life, poor marital quality, lonely personality, depression, irritability, sulking, emotional instability and other adverse psychological and mental factors.
4. Relationship with gynecological diseases Gynecological diseases refer to those who suffer from irregular menstruation, ovarian cysts and uterine fibroids. By comparing those with mastocytosis without gynecological disease and those with gynecological disease at the same time, it was found that the prevalence of the latter was significantly higher than that of the former.
Early age of menarche, short menstrual cycle, late age of natural menopause and long years of menstruation are all important risk factors for mastocytosis. Mastocytosis is positively correlated with the number of pregnancies and births. First marriage, early age of childbirth, and multiple births are protective factors for mastocytosis. However, the increase in the number of abortions is a negative factor.
6, mastocytosis and infant feeding methods, the number of breastfeeding, breastfeeding cumulative time are closely related, breastfeeding, breastfeeding for a long time, the number of breastfeeding women have a lower prevalence, while the prevalence of artificial feeding is higher.
7, drugs Whether contraceptives are risk factors for breast disease research still exists in different conclusions. Some studies have shown that the prevalence of drug contraception is higher, and the prevalence of those who do not take drug contraception is lower. Some scholars believe that the risk of breast disease increases by 1.7 to 4.1 in women who take oral contraceptives for a long time.
Symptoms of mastocytosis
1, breast pain: pain is generally related to the menstrual cycle, and symptoms are obvious before and after menstruation, but some patients have pain without regularity.
2, breast lumps: lumps can occur unilaterally or bilaterally in the breast, single or multiple, preferably in the upper outer quadrant of the breast, but also in other quadrants. The shape of the lumps may be lumpy, nodular, striated, granular, etc., among which lumpy is the most common. The masses have inconspicuous borders, medium or slightly hard texture, good mobility, no adhesions with surrounding tissues, and often painful to touch. The size of the lumps varies, from small ones as large as a grain of corn to large ones of 3 to 100 px. Breast lumps also vary with the menstrual cycle, with the lumps increasing in size and hardening before menstruation and shrinking and softening after the onset of menstruation.
Treatment of mastocytosis
There is no particularly effective treatment for mastocytosis, it is mainly symptomatic treatment, and it is difficult to recover from the histological changes of mastocytosis.
1.Medication: Danazol (a weak androgen, the only FDA approved drug for breast pain), Tamoxifen and Bromocriptine are all effective drugs for the treatment of mastocytosis, but all have significant adverse effects, so it is necessary to inform patients of the pros and cons. Evening primrose oil can also be an effective treatment for breast pain, but the effect is very slow, starting after 2 months of treatment, with significant results only after 4 months of use.
2, breast hyperplasia belongs to the category of mastopathy in Chinese medicine, it is appropriate to promote the flow of Qi and Blood, softening and dispersing the knots as the treatment, which is the main means of treating this disease in China at present. Commonly used are breast lump elimination, breast nourishing granules, breast fetish dispersion capsules, breast health tablets and breast fetish elimination, all have obvious relief of breast pain and eliminate the role of breast lumps, and less side effects;. Wuji Baifeng Pill and Xiaojin Pill are effective in relieving breast pain and are suitable for the treatment of breast pain.
3.Surgical treatment. There is no indication for surgical treatment of mastocytosis itself. The main purpose is to avoid missing or misdiagnosing breast cancer, or removing suspicious lesions.
4. Marriage, breastfeeding and abortion intervention. Marriage and breastfeeding are beneficial to breast development; on the contrary, women over 30 years old who are unmarried, have not had children, and have little breastfeeding are prone to mastopexy. Abortion can easily cause endocrine disorders, so try to avoid unplanned pregnancies and reduce the number of abortions to prevent mastocytosis in youth.
5, reduce the use of some hormone-containing products. Long-term use of estrogen-containing creams can induce mastopexy over time. Therefore, the use of estrogen-containing beauty products should be avoided.
6, a harmonious sex life. The mammary gland is a target organ for sex hormones and is affected by the endocrine environment and is subject to cyclical changes. When the “sexual” environment expands and the opportunity for sexual stimulation increases, it can cause the secretion of “kinesin”, resulting in an increase in estrogen and a relative decrease in progesterone, followed by mammary gland hyperplasia. Therefore, to maintain a harmonious married life and a regular sex life can eliminate factors that are not conducive to breast health.
The majority of mammary gland hyperplasia is not cancerous, so there is no need to worry too much. Understanding the risk factors of mastocytosis, as long as these causes are eliminated, the occurrence of mastocytosis can be reduced, and the influence of risk factors for breast cancer can be reduced.