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BREAST PHYSIOLOGY
Women's Health
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Structure of the breast
The female breast is divided into 15 or 20 lobes that radiate outwards from the nipple and
contain clusters of milk-producing glands.
Each cluster drains into its own duct, which leads into a small storage space near the
nipple and then into the nipple. At the tip of the nipple are 15 or 20 tiny duct-openings.
The pigmented circle around the nipple is known as the areola.
The nipples themselves contain erectile tissue which can be stimulated by breast feeding,
by sexual activity, and by cold.
The breasts are composed not only of glands but also of fat and fibrous tissue, which
provides support and contains nerves as well as blood and lymphatic vessels.
Breast Lumps
The only movement of the breasts is natural walking or running - the breasts remain in a
fixed position with the bra - one of the main reasons for the build up of plaque, plaque
turns into lumps and lumps eventually turn cancerous.
The latest surveys indicates that one in ten woman develops breast cancer. Regular care
and exercise to the breasts helps to remove lumps with the improved blood circulation.
If you discover a lump in the breast it will probably prove to be benign. Most lumps in
the breasts are not cancerous, but you should see a doctor right away to be sure. To
establish that a tumour is benign, a biopsy, surgically removed and close study - is
needed to exclude the possibility of cancer. Prompt action is necessary because a
malignant growth can invade neighbouring tissue and spread through the body by the way of
the lymph system and the blood.
There are several types of benign breast tumours. The most prevalent is fibro adenoma, a
firm lump that moves freely under one’s fingers; it may grow large enough to be a
cosmetic problem. The next most common kind of lump is the result of fibro-cystic disease,
characterized by cysts filled with fluid and surrounded by thick fibrous tissue. This is
normally yet another harmless lump, which may appear. Frequent
self-examination for breast lumps is an important issue for breast care and women's
health.
Breast Development
Though breast growth is not visible until puberty, breast development begins very early in
the embryo and can be discerned within just a few weeks of conception. Interestingly, the
earliest stages are identical in male and female fetuses, so many men could develop fully
functioning breasts given the right hormonal conditions.
After birth the breast has only two phases of development; the first at puberty with the
outpouring of the hormones oestrogen and progesterone; the second during pregnancy and
lactation, when the milk-producing lobules become larger.
If puberty is stunted or if a woman remains childless, her breasts will not fully develop.
The first stage of breast development begins in the embryo at about six weeks, with a
thickening in the skin called the mammary ridge or milk line.
By the time the fetus is six months old, this extends from the armpit to the groin, but it
soon dies back, leaving two breast buds on the upper half oft he chest. Occasionally,
rudimentary mammary glands develop along the milk line forming additional nipples or
breasts that sometimes persist into adult life. More rarely, the two breast buds fade away
with the rest of the milk line, so that the nipples are absent from birth.
Because the initial development of the milk line is the same in male and female fetuses,
this development can appear in the male and the female. Extra nipples and breasts or
absent nipples can be corrected only with cosmetic surgery.
When a female fetus is about six months old, 15 - 20 solid columns of cells grow inward
from each breast bud. Each column becomes a separate "sweat" or exocrine gland.
With it’s own separate duct leading to the nipple.
By the eighth month of fetal development, these columns of cells have become hollow so
that, by birth, a nipple and a rudimentary milk-duct system have formed. No further
development takes place until puberty.
The first external signs of breast development appear at the age of 10 or 11 - though it
can be as late as 14 years. The ovaries start to secrete oestrogen leading to an
accumulation of fat in the connective tissue that causes the breast to enlarge. The duct
system also begins to develop, but only to the point of forming cellular knobs at the end
of the ducts.
As far as we know the mechanism that secretes milk doesn’t develop until pregnancy.
Although the breast may appear fully grown within a few years of puberty, strictly
speaking, their development is not complete until they have fulfilled their biological
function - that is, until the woman carries a pregnancy to term and breast-feeds her baby,
when they will undergo further changes.
Maturity of the breasts
Once a young woman reaches puberty, and ovulation and the menstrual cycle begins, the
breasts start to mature, forming real secretory glands at the ends of the milk ducts.
Initially these glands are very primitive and may consist of only one or two layers of
cells surrounded by a base membrane.
Between this membrane and the glandular cells are cells of another type, called
myo-epithelial cells, these cells are the ones that contract and squeeze milk from the
gland if pregnancy occurs and milk production takes place.
With further growth, the lobes of the glands become separated from one another by dense
connective tissue and fat deposits. This tissue is easily stretched. This is where the
natural enlargement formula comes in and allows the enlargement that normally occurs
during pregnancy when the glandular elements swell and grow.
The duct system grows considerably after conception and many more glands and lobules are
formed. This causes the breast to increase in size as it matures to fulfill its role of
providing food for the baby.
Female Changes
Most women notice that just before menstruation their breasts enlarge and their nipples
become sensitive and even painful. The texture of the breasts change and they become
rather lumpy, with small discrete swellings that resemble orange pips in both texture and
size. These lumps are glands in the breast which enlarge in preparation for pregnancy.
If pregnancy doesn’t occur, breasts return to their normal size and the glands become
imperceptible to touch within a few days, ready for re-growth the next month. These
changes in the breast are only one part of many changes that occur in the female body as
the result of the monthly ebb and flow of the female hormones oestrogen and progesterone.
Aging of the Breasts
As we get older, our breasts tend to sag and flatten; the larger the breasts, the more
they sag. With the menopause there is a reduction in stimulation by the hormone oestrogen
to all tissues of the body, including breast tissue; this results in a reduction in the
glandular tissue of the breasts. So they loose their earlier fullness.
Regular exercise would have however prevented or slowed down the ageing process. Much of
the connective tissue in the breast is composed of a fibrous protein called collagen,
which needs oestrogen to keep it healthy. Without oestrogen, it becomes dehydrated and
inelastic. Once the collagen has lost its shape and stretchability it "was"
believed that it could not return to its former state or condition.
Breast Size and Shape
"May your breasts stay high and round like a young girls." It could almost be
any mother’s prayer for her daughter, or a bra manufacturer’s promise to a
prospective customer. However the structure of the breast is the same world over in
relation to it’s primary function - lactation.
The great variety that we see stems from the assortment of shapes and sizes of the layer
of subcutaneous fat on which the nipple sits. This variation is not related to race or
ethnic group; there are more differences within races than between races.
The three body types of which all human beings roughly conform - endomorphic (fat or
heavy), mesomorphic (muscular and athletic), and ectomorphic (thin and light) -are found
in all races, though there may be regional clustering of particular types.
A woman’s physical type does not determine the volume and shape of her breasts; each
type shows the whole range of variation from scant and boyish to large and pendulous.
Research has shown that breast size and shape can be changed and improved through
the use of natural breast enhancement formulas.
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