breast: Definition, Synonyms from Answers.com

The human breasts are mammary glands — common to all mammals, by definition. There are differences between species in number and in structure, and also in the composition of the milk that they produce for feeding the offspring.

A pair of nipples is of course common to both boys and girls — a relic of the embryological development of the male having been superimposed upon the basic female. As girls approach puberty, female sex hormones produced in the ovaries circulate in the bloodstream and cause development the rudimentary breast glands, which have been present since before birth. Breast enlargement usually heralds the other changes. Progesterone promotes development of the potentially milk-producing cells, and oestrogens promote the development of the ducts leading to the nipple from the 15-20 ‘lobes’ of glands.

When menstrual cycles begin, the mammary glands also start to undergo cyclical changes: in the second half of the cycle, under the increasing influence of progesterone, the glandular tissue grows, sometimes causing ‘lumpiness’ and tenderness — one of many preparations for the pregnancy which in most months does not follow.

When conception does occur, the breasts continue to develop. The accompanying increase in blood supply distends the veins under the skin — often the first outward and visible sign of pregnancy. The glandular tissue proliferates, taking the place of connective tissue and fat, and the breasts progressively enlarge. Later in pregnancy, the hormones secreted from the fetal tissue of the placenta act on the glandular cells and on the ducts leading to the nipple: thus the fetus itself, along with the hormone, prolactin, from the mother's pituitary gland, prepares the ground for its own later nutrition. This same prolactin would also stimulate the production of milk — but oestrogens from the placenta counteract this, so that milk is not actually made before the time is ripe. After birth of the baby, this suppression stops, so prolactin activity is suddenly uninhibited. Unfortunately for ideal infant feeding, in ‘developed’ countries nowadays oestrogens are often taken orally, to suppress milk production in those mothers who choose to bottle-feed the baby.

The female breast. After Youngson, Encyclopedia of family health

Left to nature, the secretion is initially scanty (colostrum) but the volume of milk becomes significant at about the third day after the birth, when the breasts become quite dramatically engorged. The mother's pituitary hormones remain in control of milk synthesis and secretion; under this influence, fats, proteins, and lactose (milk sugar) are made in the gland cells from nutrients taken up from the blood. When the infant sucks, nerve impulses from the nipple reach the hypothalamus in the brain; these stimulate nerve cells that have stores of the hormone oxytocin in the ends of their fibres that lie in the posterior part of the pituitary gland. This causes release of the hormone into the circulating blood. Reaching the breasts, oxytocin activates contractile cells, which squeeze milk from its storage sites into the channels that take it to the nipple. This whole ‘neuroendocrine reflex’ takes about 10 seconds — barely long enough for a hungry infant to show serious signs of frustration.

Lactation will continue for just as long as a baby is regularly sucking away the supply of milk: the more is removed, the more is made. The volume averages about 1 litre per day, but twice that amount can be produced for twins. Weaning of the infant leads automatically to a decrease in the milk supply, and the glandular tissue reverts to the non-pregnant state — until the next time, if any.

The breasts in history and culture

The cultural significance of the breast revolves around its uses as a symbol both of fertility and of sexual pleasure.

Many prehistoric images represent the female body with a high level of body fat and large breasts, the ideals when the food supply was uncertain. Breast milk, as our first and most reliable food, has long been the subject of speculation about its nature and significance. The classical model dominant in Western medicine until the nineteenth century was dependent both on the Greek philosopher Aristotle, who argued that breast milk was a fluid intermediate between menstrual blood and semen in terms of the degree of ‘cooking’ it received in the body, and also on the Hippocratic medical writers. It was thought that special channels from the womb to the breasts carried and transformed blood; this meant that, after birth, a child continued to derive nourishment from the same blood that had been its source in the womb.

The medical imperative from such theories was, of course, that a mother should nurse her own child. However, in cases where the natural mother was unable to do this, or as a way of preserving the youthful appearance of the breasts, wet-nursing could be used. Contracts specifying the duties of a wet nurse, and her fees, survive from Roman Egypt, showing that this form of paid employment was available to women from early times. The second-century ad medical writer, Soranos, offered detailed, and historically influential, advice to Roman men on how to choose a good wet nurse. She should be aged between 20 and 40, have given birth two or three times, and be strong and in good health. Her breasts should be medium-sized, soft, and unwrinkled, with the nipples also of medium size and neither too compact nor too porous. Soranos argued that milk from large women is more nourishing, but regarded very large breasts as a health risk to the infant on two counts: first, they may fall on the nursling, and second, there will be milk left over after each feed, which will lose its freshness and then harm the infant at the next feed. Soranos believed that the wet nurse transmits her own qualities to the child, so an even-tempered woman free from superstition should be found; she should also be Greek-speaking, so that the nursling becomes accustomed to hearing Greek. The wet nurse must abstain from sex and alcohol, both of which could damage the milk. As well as studying the body of the potential employee, a Roman man must taste and smell her milk; after employing her, he should carefully supervise her diet. In the nineteenth century the recognition of the value of colostrum superseded the classical view that, not being ‘proper milk’, it should be withheld from the baby.

The advice Soranos gives represents both a continuing unease surrounding the use of wet nurses, and a continuing conflict between the nurturing and the erotic breast. Roman writers often accused women of wanting to employ a wet nurse only for the sake of maintaining a sexually desirable figure. Medium breasts on large women may have been good for babies, but classical art suggests that the erotic ideal was the small breasted, boyish woman.

In mid-eighteenth-century Europe when Linnaeus' classification of the natural world put humans among the Mammalia — those with breasts — debate over the use of wet nurses became a state concern. Linnaeus was in favour of mothers nursing their own children; with philosophers, naturalists, moralists, and medical writers, he argued that strong nations were built up from babies fed at the maternal breast. Using the maternal breast was economical, but also political, part of the good woman's civic duty, and linked to images of the state feeding its children.

When, as a result of Pasteur's discoveries, sterilization of animal milk for bottle-feeding became possible, even those who could not afford to pay a wet nurse could avoid breastfeeding. A further development was milk substitutes; however, in developing countries there have been considerable problems following the promotion of milk substitutes as an alternative to the real thing, due for example to the formula being made up with non-sterile water or at the wrong strength.

The patron saint of nursing mothers is St Agatha, the legendary martyr who had her breasts cut off, shown in renaissance and baroque art carrying them on a plate. Christian religious art has used the nurturing breast in many ways. In fourteenth-century Tuscan art, during a period of crop failures and plague, the image of the Virgin Mary suckling a greedy Jesus became widespread. Sometimes she is shown directing a stream of milk into Jesus' mouth, or into the mouth of a particularly privileged saint; such images can emphasize the humanity of Jesus, or evoke the analogy of the Christian sucking at the breasts of the church for spiritual nourishment. Images of Charity personified often show a child suckling at each of her breasts.

For Freud, the breast was the first erogenous zone, from which a child should move on to the anal and genital stages of its developing sexuality. The baby's complete satisfaction at its mother's breast led to an identification with the mother, after which the baby needed to develop a sense of itself as a separate being. This was achieved by a rejection of the breast, now seen as withholding milk. In adult life, a person therefore longs for the perfect pleasure of the breast which has been taken away. Ideals and representations of the erotic breast show far more variation than the lactating breast. It can be large or small, with a pronounced cleavage or with the breasts entirely separated. The ideal in the Middle Ages was to have firm, white, apple-shaped globes, far from the Hollywood images of Jane Russell or Lana Turner, and even further from the pneumatic breasts of top-shelf magazines. Sixteenth-century kings' mistresses, most notably Agnès Sorel, Diane de Poitiers, and Gabrielle d'Estrées, were painted showing their breasts; Agnès was even represented as the Madonna.

As the size and shape of the ideal breast has varied dramatically over time and space, so fashions have changed to reshape the normal range of breasts to fit the ideal. The breast has been compressed, surgically reduced, padded, enhanced with silicone, pushed up, and armoured by a range of devices including bodices, corsets, bras and, most recently, the Wonderbra. Even before the corset or the brassiere, in the Middle Ages pouches sewn in to dresses could give uplift. One of the best-known aspects of the early Women's Liberation Movement was the ‘bra burning’ of the late 1960s, a form of liberation intended to make men face up to the reality of the breast freed from its fantasy underpinnings.

Breast tissue is more prone than any other in the woman's body to develop cancer. This accounts for about 1 in 20 deaths of British women, becoming commoner with increasing age. Early detection is assisted by regular X-ray examination (breast screening — mammography), and various combinations of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy can be effective in treatment.

The very high incidence of breast cancer in the Western world has made the breast into an organ associated as much with death as with nurturing life. Fanny Burney's harrowing description of her mastectomy, performed without anaesthetic in 1811, has survived; nowadays ‘lumpectomy’ may be adequate but mastectomy is sometimes necessary, and women who have had a breast removed may choose to use a prosthesis, or to adjust to a new body shape. The classical myth of the Amazons presents the woman with one breast as powerful, but feared. Currently some women with a family history of breast cancer are offered elective surgery to remove both breasts before disease appears; reactions to those who accept this surgery show that the breast remains a potent symbol of womanhood today.

— Sheila Jennett, Helen King

Bibliography

Yalom, M. (1997). A history of the breast. Harper Collins

This article's lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (January 2012)

This article is about the human breast. For other animals, see Udder and Mammary gland.

"Boobs" redirects here. For other uses, see Boob (disambiguation).

For other uses, see Breast (disambiguation)

Breast

The milk-engorged breast of a pregnant woman
Latin	mamma (mammalis “of the breast”) ^[1]
Artery	internal thoracic artery
Vein	internal thoracic vein

The breast is the upper ventral region of the torso of a primate, in left and right sides, which in a female contains the mammary gland that secretes milk used to feed infants.

Both men and women develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. However, at puberty, female sex hormones, mainly estrogen, promote breast development, which does not occur in men, due to the higher amount of testosterone. As a result, women's breasts become far more prominent than those of men.

Etymology

The English word breast derives from the Old English word brēost (breast, bosom) from Proto-Germanic breustam (breast), from the Proto-Indo-European base bhreus– (to swell, to sprout).^[2] The breast spelling conforms to the Scottish and North English dialectal pronunciations.^[3]

Anatomy

The Breast: cross-section scheme of the mammary gland.
1. Chest wall
2. Pectoralis muscles
3. Lobules
4. Nipple
5. Areola
6. Milk duct
7. Fatty tissue
8. Skin

Morphology

The human breast has two aspects — the functional and the anatomic aspect.

The functional breast

The breast is an apocrine gland that produces milk to feed an infant child; for which the nipple of the breast is centred in (surrounded by) an areola (nipple-areola complex, NAC), the skin color of which varies from pink to dark brown, and has many sebaceous glands. The basic units of the breast are the terminal duct lobular units (TDLUs), which produce the fatty breast milk. They give the breast its offspring-feeding functions as a mammary gland. They are distributed throughout the body of the breast; approximately two-thirds of the lactiferous tissue is within 30-mm of the base of the nipple. The terminal lactiferous ducts drain the milk from TDLUs into 4–18 lactiferous ducts, which drain to the nipple; the milk-glands-to-fat ratio is 2:1 in a lactating woman, and 1:1 in a non-lactating woman. In addition to the milk glands, the breast also is composed of connective tissues (collagen, elastin), white fat, and the suspensory Cooper's ligaments. Sensation in the breast is provided by the peripheral nervous system innervation, by means of the front (anterior) and side (lateral) cutaneous branches of the fourth-, the fifth-, and the sixth intercostal nerves, while the T-4 nerve (Thoracic spinal nerve 4), which innervates the dermatomic area, supplies sensation to the nipple-areola complex.^[4]^[5]

The anatomic breast

A woman’s breasts overlay the pectoralis major muscles and usually extend from the level of the second rib to the level of the sixth rib in the front of the human rib cage; thus, the breasts cover much of the chest area and the chest walls. At the front of the chest, the breast tissue can extend from the clavicle (collarbone) to the middle of the sternum (breastbone). At the sides of the chest, the breast tissue can extend into the axilla (armpit), and can reach as far to the back as the latissimus dorsi muscle, extending from the lower back to the humerus bone (the longest bone of the upper arm). As a mammary gland, the breast is an inhomogeneous anatomic structure composed of layers of different types of tissue, among which predominate two types: (i) adipose tissue and (ii) glandular tissue, which effects the lactation functions of the breasts.

Morphologically, the breast is a cone with the base at the chest wall, and the apex at the nipple, the center of the NAC (nipple-areola complex). The superﬁcial tissue layer (superficial fascia) is separated from the skin by 0.5–2.5 cm of subcutaneous fat (adipose tissue). The suspensory Cooper’s ligaments are fibrous-tissue prolongations that radiate from the superficial fascia to the skin envelope. The adult breast contains 14–18 irregular lactiferous lobes that converge to the nipple, to ducts 2.0–4.5 mm in diameter; the milk ducts (lactiferous ducts) are immediately surrounded with dense connective tissue that functions as a support framework. The glandular tissue of the breast is biochemically supported with estrogen; thus, when a woman reaches menopause (cessation of menstruation) and her body estrogen levels decrease, the milk gland tissue then atrophies, withers, and disappears, resulting in a breast composed of adipose tissue, superﬁcial fascia, suspensory ligaments, and the skin envelope.

The dimensions and the weight of the breast vary among women, ranging approximately 500–1,000 gm (1.1-2.2 pounds) each; thus, a small-to-medium-sized breast weighs 500 gm (1.1 pounds) or less; and a large breast weighs approximately 750–1,000 gm (1.7-2.2 pounds.) The tissue composition ratios of the breast likewise vary among women; some breasts have greater proportions of glandular tissue than of adipose or connective tissues, and vice versa; therefore the fat-to-connective-tissue ratio determines the density (firmness) of the breast. In the course of a woman’s life, her breasts will change size, shape, and weight, because of the hormonal bodily changes occurred in thelarche (pubertal breast development), menstruation (fertility), pregnancy (reproduction), the breast-feeding of an infant child, and the climacterium (the end of fertility).^[6]^[7]^[8]

Lymphatic drainage

Approximately 75 per cent of the lymph from the breast travels to the ipsilateral (same-side) axillary lymph nodes, whilst 25 per cent of the lymph travels to the parasternal nodes (beside the sternum bone), to the other breast, and to the abdominal lymph nodes. The axillary lymph nodes include the pectoral (chest), subscapular (under the scapula), and humeral (humerus-bone area) lymph-node groups, which drain to the central axillary lymph nodes and to the apical axillary lymph nodes. The lymphatic drainage of the breasts is especially relevant to oncology, because breast cancer is a cancer common to the mammary gland, and cancer cells can metastasize (break away) from a tumour and be dispersed to other parts of the woman’s body by means of the lymphatic system.

Shape and support

The topography of the breasts indicate the glandular body, the nipple-areola complex (NAC), and the inframammary fold (IMF).

The morphologic variations in the size, shape, volume, tissue density, pectoral locale, and spacing of the breasts determine their natural shape, appearance, and configuration upon the chest of a woman; yet such features do not indicate its mammary-gland composition (fat-to-milk-gland ratio), nor the potential for nursing an infant child.^[9]^[10] The size and the shape of the breasts are influenced by normal-life hormonal changes (thelarche, menstruation, pregnancy, menopause) and medical conditions (e.g. virginal breast hypertrophy).^[11] The shape of the breasts is naturally determined by the support of the suspensory Cooper's ligaments, the underlying muscle and bone structures of the chest, and the skin envelope. The supensory ligaments sustain the breast from the clavicle (collarbone) and the clavico-pectoral fascia (collarbone and chest), by traversing and encompassing the fat and milk-gland tissues, the breast is positioned, affixed to, and supported upon the chest wall, while its shape is established and maintained by the skin envelope.

The base of each breast is attached to the chest by the deep fascia over the pectoralis major muscles. The space between the breast and the pectoralis major muscle is called retromammary space and gives mobility to the breast. Some breasts are mounted high upon the chest wall, are of rounded shape, and project almost horizontally from the chest, which features are common to girls and women in the early stages of thelarchic development, the sprouting of the breasts. In the high-breast configuration, the dome-shaped and the cone-shaped breast is affixed to the chest at the base, and the weight is evenly distributed over the base area. In the low-breast configuration, a proportion of the breast weight is supported by the chest, against which rests the lower surface of the breast, thus is formed the inframammary fold (IMF). Because the base is deeply affixed to the chest, the weight of the breast is distributed over a greater area, and so reduces the weight-bearing strain upon the chest, shoulder, and back muscles that bear the weight of the bust.

The chest (thoracic cavity) progressively slopes outwards from the thoracic inlet (atop the breastbone) and above to the lowest ribs that support the breasts. The inframammary fold, where the lower portion of the breast meets the chest, is an anatomic feature created by the adherence of the breast skin and the underlying connective tissues of the chest; the IMF is the lower-most extent of the anatomic breast. In the course of thelarche, some girls develop breasts the lower skin-envelope of which touches the chest below the IMF, and some girls do not; both breast anatomies are statistically normal morphologic variations of the size and shape of women's breasts.^[12]

Development

The Tanner Scale indicates the five development stages of the secondary sex characteristics (breasts and pubic hair) of girls and women.

The basic morphological structure of the human breast — female and male — is determined during the prenatal development stage. For a girl in puberty, during thelarche (the breast-development stage), the female sex hormones (principally estrogens) promote the sprouting, growth, and development of the breasts, in the course of which, as mammary glands, they grow in size and volume, and usually rest on her chest; these development stages of secondary sex characteristics (breasts, pubic hair, etc.) are illustrated in the five-stage Tanner Scale.^[13] During thelarche, the developing breasts sometimes are of unequal size, and usually the left breast is slightly larger; said condition of asymmetry is transitory and statistically normal to female physical and sexual development.^[14] Moreover, breast development sometimes is abnormal, manifested either as overdevelopment (e.g. virginal breast hypertrophy) or as underdevelopment (e.g. tuberous breast deformity) in girls and women; and manifested in boys and men as gynecomastia (woman's breasts), the consequence of a biochemical imbalance between the normal levels of the estrogen and testosterone hormones of the male body.^[15]

Asymmetry

Approximately two years after the pubertal occurrence of a girl’s first menstrual cycle, the hormone oestrogen stimulates the development and growth of the glandular, fat, and suspensory tissues that compose the breast; and continues for approximately four years until establishing the final shape of the breast (size, volume, density) when she is a woman of approximately 21 years of age.^[10] Approximately 90 per cent of women possess breasts that are asymmetrical, either in size, volume, or relative position upon the chest; whilst notable breast asymmetry — a breast-size difference of at least one brassière-cup size — is present in 25 per cent of women.^[9]^[10]^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19]

For approximately 5–10% of women, the asymmetry of the breasts is notably different, with the left breast bigger in 62% of the women. The asymmetry can be manifested in the size of the breast, the position of the nipple-areola complex (NAC), the angle of the breast, and the position of the inframammary fold, where the breast meets the chest. The usual resolution for such conditions is corrective mammoplasty, such as mastopexy, breast reduction, or breast augmentation, which treatment is determined by the particular form of breast asymmetry to correct.^[10]^[20]

Hormonal change

On the skin envelope of the breast, stretch marks indicate the relative-size increments and decrements occurred during the life of the woman.

Because the breasts are principally composed of adipose tissue, which surrounds the milk glands, their sizes and volumes fluctuate according to the hormonal changes particular to thelarche (sprouting of breasts), menstruation (egg production), pregnancy (reproduction), lactation (feeding of offspring), and menopause (end of menstruation). For example, during the menstrual cycle, the breasts are enlarged by premenstrual water retention; during pregnancy the breasts become enlarged and denser (firmer) because of the prolactin-caused organ hypertrophy, which begins the production of breast milk, increases the size of the nipples, and darkens the skin color of the nipple-areola complex (NAC); these changes continue during the lactation and the breastfeeding periods. Afterwards, the breasts generally revert to their pre-pregnancy size, shape, and volume, yet might present stretch marks and breast ptosis. At menopause, the breasts can decrease in size when the levels of circulating estrogen decline, followed by the withering of the adipose tissue and the milk glands. Additional to such natural biochemical stimuli, the breasts can become enlarged consequent to an adverse side effect of combined oral contraceptive pills; and the size of the breasts can also increase and decrease in response to the body weight fluctuations of the woman. Moreover, the physical changes occurred to the breasts usually are recorded in the stretch marks of the skin envelope; they are historical indicators of the increments and the decrements of the size and the volume of a woman’s breasts throughout the course of her life.

Breast ptosis

Main article: Ptosis (breasts)

From pert to pooped: the seven stages of breast ptosis.

Ptosis is a normal consequence of aging^[21] where the breast tissue sags lower on the chest and the nipple points downward.^[22] The rate at which a woman develops ptosis depends on many factors. Breast ptosis is caused by genetics, but smoking, a woman's body mass index (BMI), her number of pregnancies, the size of her breasts before pregnancy, and age are all influencing factors.^[23]

Plastic surgeons categorize ptosis by evaluating the position of the nipple relative to the inframammary crease (where the underside of the breast meets the chest wall). This is determined by measuring from the center of the nipple to the sternal notch (at the top of the breast bone) to gauge how far the nipple has fallen. The standard anthropometric measurement for young women is 21 centimetres (8.3 in). This measurement is used to assess both breast ptosis and breast symmetry. The surgeon will assess the breast's angle of projection. The apex of the breast, which includes the nipple, can have a flat angle of projection (180 degrees) or acute angle of projection (>180 degrees). The apex rarely has an angle greater than 60 degrees. The angle of the breast apex is partly determined by the tautness of the suspensory Cooper's ligaments. For example, when a woman lies on her back, the angle of the breast apex becomes a flat, obtuse angle (<180 degrees) while the base-to-length ratio of the breast ranges from 0.5 to 1.0.^[21]

Functions and health

Lactation

Main article: Breastfeeding

The functional breast nourishing an infant girl.

The primary function of the breasts — as mammary glands — is the feeding and the nourishing of an infant child with breast milk during the maternal lactation period. The round shape of the breast helps to limit the loss of maternal body heat, because milk production depends upon a higher-temperature environment for the proper, milk-production function of the mammary gland tissues, the lactiferous ducts. Regarding the shape of the breast, the study The Evolution of the Human Beast (2001) proposed that the rounded shape of a woman's breast evolved to prevent the sucking infant offspring from suffocating while feeding at the teat; that is, because of the human infant's small jaw, which did not project from the face to reach the nipple, he or she might block the nostrils against the mother's breast if it were of a flatter form (cf. chimpanzee); theoretically, as the human jaw receded into the face, the woman's body compensated with round breasts.^[24]

In a woman, the condition of lactation unrelated to pregnancy can occur as galactorrhea (spontaneous milk flow), and because of the adverse effects of drugs (e.g. antipsychotic medications), of extreme physical stress, and of endocrine disorders. In a newborn infant, the capability of lactation is consequence of the mother's circulating hormones (prolactin, oxytocin, etc.) in his or her blood stream, which were introduced by the shared circulatory system of the placenta; neonatal milk, the milk from a lactating infant, is also known as witch's milk. In men, the mammary glands are also present in the body, but normally remain undeveloped because of the hormone testosterone, however, when male lactation occurs, it is considered a pathological symptom of a disorder of the pituitary gland.

Reproduction

In considering the human animal, zoologists proposed that the human female is the only primate that possesses permanent, full-form breasts when not pregnant. Other mammal females develop full breasts only when pregnant. The zoologist Desmond Morris proposed that the rounded shape of a woman's breasts evolved as frontal, secondary sex characteristic that is a sexual-attraction counterpart to the buttocks, and so encouraged frontal copulation. The reason being that, while other primates mate by means of the rear-entry position, the upright, bipedal human being was likelier to successfully copulate face to face.

As an ethologist, Morris further proposed that breasts, a secondary sex characteristic located on the woman's chest, encouraged face-to-face sexual intercourse that led to the establishment of an emotional bond between man and woman; social progress from an essentially procreational function of human biology.^[25] Furthermore, the symmetry of the breasts, and the general symmetry of the human body, influence what men and women consider physical attractiveness in a mate with whom to reproduce. Bodily beauty, evolutionary psychology proposes that a symmetrical body signals genetical health to a potential mate and so is the product of a morphologically stable line of people who physically developed without interference by disease. Therefore, because the breasts are especially sensitive to developmental interference (genetic and environmental), breast symmetry indicates a woman of good health and thus of good breeding stock, who shall successfully bear more (surviving) children than will a woman with asymmetrical breasts.^[26]

Mammary diseases

Main article: Breast disease

The breast is susceptible to numerous benign and malignant conditions. The most frequent benign conditions are puerperal mastitis, fibrocystic breast changes and mastalgia. Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death among women.

Cultural aspects

Anthropomorphic geography

Main article: Breast-shaped hill

There are many mountains named after the breast because they resemble it in appearance and so are objects of religious and ancestral veneration as a fertility symbol and of well-being. In Asia, there was "Breast Mountain", which had a cave where the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma (Da Mo) spent much time in meditation.^[27] Other such breast mountains are Mount Elgon on the Uganda-Kenya border, Beinn Chìochan and the Maiden Paps in Scotland, the "Bundok ng Susong Dalaga" (Maiden's breast mountains) in Talim Island, Philippines, the twin hills known as the Paps of Anu (Dá Chích Anann or the breasts of Anu), near Killarney in Ireland, the 2,086 m high Tetica de Bacares or "La Tetica" in the Sierra de Los Filabres, Spain, and Khao Nom Sao in Thailand, Cerro Las Tetas in Puerto Rico and the Breasts of Aphrodite in Mykonos, among many others. In the United States, the Teton Range is named after the French word for "breast".^[28]

Art history

A Cretan Snake Goddess from the Minoan Civilization, ca. 1600 BC.

In European pre-historic societies, sculptures of female figures with pronounced or highly exaggerated breasts were common. A typical example is the so-called Venus of Willendorf, one of many Paleolithic Venus figurines with ample hips and bosom. Artifacts such as bowls, rock carvings and sacred statues with breasts have been recorded from 15,000 BC up to late antiquity all across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Many female deities representing love and fertility were associated with breasts and breast milk. Figures of the Phoenician goddess Astarte were represented as pillars studded with breasts. Isis, an Egyptian goddess who represented, among many other things, ideal motherhood, was often portrayed as suckling pharaohs, thereby confirming their divine status as rulers. Even certain male deities representing regeneration and fertility were occasionally depicted with breast-like appendices, such as the river god Hapy who was considered to be responsible for the annual overflowing of the Nile. Female breasts were also prominent in the Minoan civilization in the form of the famous Snake Goddess statuettes. In Ancient Greece there were several cults worshipping the "Kourotrophos", the suckling mother, represented by goddesses such as Gaia, Hera and Artemis. The worship of deities symbolized by the female breast in Greece became less common during the first millennium. The popular adoration of female goddesses decreased significantly during the rise of the Greek city states, a legacy which was passed on to the later Roman Empire.^[29]

During the middle of the first millennium BC, Greek culture experienced a gradual change in the perception of female breasts. Women in art were covered in clothing from the neck down, including female goddesses like Athena, the patron of Athens who represented heroic endeavor. There were exceptions: Aphrodite, the goddess of love, was more frequently portrayed fully nude, though in postures that were intended to portray shyness or modesty, a portrayal that has been compared to modern pin ups by historian Marilyn Yalom.^[30] Although nude men were depicted standing upright, most depictions of female nudity in Greek art occurred "usually with drapery near at hand and with a forward-bending, self-protecting posture".^[31] A popular legend at the time was of the Amazons, a tribe of fierce female warriors who socialized with men only for procreation and even removed one breast to become better warriors (the idea being that the right breast would interfere with the operation of a bow and arrow). The legend was a popular motif in art during Greek and Roman antiquity and served as an antithetical cautionary tale.

Body image

Main article: Breast implant

Breast augmentation: the pre-operative (left) and the post-operative (right) aspects of a procedure for implanting breast implants.

Breast reduction: the pre-operative (left) and the post-operative (right) aspects of a reduction mammoplasty procedure.

Women regard their breasts, which are female secondary sex characteristics, as important to their sexual attractiveness, as a sign of femininity that is important to their sense of self. So, when a woman considers her breasts deficient in some respect, she might choose to undergo a plastic surgery procedure to enhance them, either to have them augmented or to have them reduced, or to have them reconstructed if she suffered a deformative disease, such as breast cancer.^[32] After mastectomy (the removal of a diseased breast), the reconstruction of the breast or breasts is done with breast implants or autologous tissue transfer, using fat and tissues from the abdomen, which is performed with a TRAM flap or with a back (latissiumus muscle flap). Breast reduction surgery is a common procedure that involves removing excess breast tissue, fat, and skin, and the repositioning of the nipple-areola complex (NAC).

Cosmetic improvement procedures include breast lift (mastopexy), breast augmentation with implants, and combination procedures; the two types of available breast implants are models filled with silicone gel, and models filled with saline solution. These types of breast surgery can also repair inverted nipples by releasing milk duct tissues that have become tethered. Furthermore, in the case of the obese woman, a breast lift (mastopexy) procedure, with or without a breast volume reduction, can be part of an upper-body lift and contouring for the woman who has undergone massive body weight loss.

Surgery of the breast presents the health risk of interfering with the ability to breast-feed and infant child, which might include consequences such as altered sensation in the nipple-areola complex, interference with mammography (breast x-rays images) when there are breast implants present in the breasts. Regarding breast-feeding capability after breast reduction surgery, studies reported that women who underwent breast reduction can retain the ability to nurse an infant child, when compared to women in a control group who underwent breast surgery using a modern pedicle surgical technique.^[33]^[34]^[35]^[36]^[37]^[38]^[39] Plastic surgery organizations generally discourage elective cosmetic breast augmentation surgery for teenaged girls, because, at that age range, the volume of the breast tissues (milk glands and fat) can continue to grow as the girl matures to womanhood. Breast reduction surgery for teenaged girls, however, is a matter handled according to the particulars of the case of hypoplasia. (see: breast hypertrophy)

Clothing

As is customary in her culture, a bare-breasted Himba woman of northern Namibia wears a traditional headdress and skirt.

Because breasts are mostly fatty tissue, their shape can within limits be molded by clothing, such as foundation garments. Bras are commonly worn by about 90% of Western women,^[40]^[41]^[42] and are often worn for support.^[43] The social norm in most Western cultures is to cover breasts in public, though the extent of coverage varies depending on the social context. Some religions ascribe a special status to the female breast, either in formal teachings or through symbolism. Islam forbids women from public exposing their breasts.

Many cultures associate breasts with sexuality and tend to regard bare breasts as immodest or indecent. In some third-world cultures, like the Himba in northern Namibia, bare-breasted women are the social norm. while an exposed woman's thigh is highly sexualised and never exposed in public. while in a few Western societies countries female toplessness at a beach is acceptable although it may not be acceptable in the town center. In some areas, exposing a woman's breasts applies only to the exposure of nipples.

In the United States, women who breast-feed in public can receive negative attention. There have been instances where women have been asked to leave public venues. In New York, the topfreedom equality movement helped to bring a case, People v. Santorelli (1992), to the New York State Court of Appeals. They ruled that New York's indecent exposure laws York did not apply to a bare-breasted woman. Other (gender equality) efforts succeeded in most of Canada in the 1990s. Bare-breasted women are legal and culturally acceptable at public beaches in Australia and much of Europe.

Sexual characteristic

See also: Mammary intercourse and Breast fetishism

In some cultures breasts play a role in human sexual activity. Breasts and especially the nipple are one of a woman's erogenous zones. They are sensitive to the touch as they have many nerve endings; and it is common to press or massage them with hands or orally before or during sexual activity. Some women can achieve breast orgasms. In the ancient Indian work the Kama Sutra, light scratching of the breasts with nails and biting with teeth are considered erotic.^[44] On sexual arousal breast size increases, venous patterns across the breasts become more visible, and nipples harden. Compared to other primates, human breasts are proportionately large throughout adult females' lives. Some writers have suggested that they may have evolved as a visual signal of sexual maturity and fertility.^[45]

Many people regard the female human body, of which breasts are an important aspect, to be aesthetically pleasing, as well as erotic. Research conducted at the Victoria University of Wellington showed that breasts are often the first thing men look at, and for a longer time than other body parts.^[46] The writers of the study had initially speculated that the reason for this is due to endocrinology with larger breasts indicating higher levels of estrogen and a sign of greater fertility,^[46]^[47] but the researchers said that "Men may be looking more often at the breasts because they are simply aesthetically pleasing, regardless of the size."^[46]

Many people regard bare female breasts to be erotic, and they can elicit heightened sexual desires in some men in some cultures. Some people show a sexual interest in female breasts distinct from that of the person, which may be regarded as a breast fetish.^[48]

Symbolism

In Christian iconography, some works of art depict women with their breasts in their hands or on a platter, signifying that they died as a martyr by having their breasts severed; one example of this is Saint Agatha of Sicily.

References

Notes

^ "mammal – Definitions from Dictionary.com". Dictionary.reference.com. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mammal. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
^ Indo-European Lexicon: Pokorny Master PIE Etyma. Utexas.edu. Retrieved on 2011-04-22.
^ Online Etymology Dictionary. Etymonline.com. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
^ Introduction to the Human Body, Fifth Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: New York, 2001. 560.
^ Ramsay DT, Kent JC, Hartmann RA, Hartmann PE (June 2005). "Anatomy of the Lactating Human Breast Redefined with Ultrasound Imaging". Journal of Anatomy 206 (6): 525–534. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7580.2005.00417.x. PMC 1571528. PMID 15960763. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1571528.
^ Pamplona DC, de Abreu Alvim C. Breast Reconstruction with Expanders and Implants: a Numerical Analysis. Artiﬁcial Organs 8 (2004), pp. 353–356.
^ Grassley JS. Breast Reduction Surgery: What every Woman Needs to Know. Lifelines 6 (2002), pp. 244–249.
^ Azar FS. A Deformable Finite Element Model of the Breast for Predicting Mechanical Deformations under External Perturbations. (doctoral thesis) Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Penn., USA, 2001.
^ ^a ^b Jelovsek, Frederick R.. "Breast Asymmetry—When Does it Need Treatment?". http://www.wdxcyber.com/nbreast3.htm. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Goddard, Kay (May 10, 2011). "I May Have Been the Ultimo Bra Girl, but One of my Breasts was a B-cup and the other was a D". The Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1384595/Katie-Green-I-Ultimo-bra-girl-I-suffered-breast-asymmetry.html. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
^ Wood K, Cameron M, Fitzgerald K (2008). "Breast Size, Bra Fit and Thoracic Pain in Young Women: A Correlational Study". Chiropractic & Osteopathy 16: 1. doi:10.1186/1746-1340-16-1. PMC 2275741. PMID 18339205. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2275741.
^ Boutros S, Kattash M, Wienfeld A, Yuksel E, Baer S, Shenaq S (September 1998). "The Intradermal Anatomy of the Inframammary Fold". Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 102 (4): 1030–1033. doi:10.1097/00006534-199809040-00017. PMID 9734420. http://meta.wkhealth.com/pt/pt-core/template-journal/lwwgateway/media/landingpage.htm?issn=0032-1052&volume=102&issue=4&spage=1030.
^ Greenbaum AR, Heslop T, Morris J, Dunn KW (April 2003). "An Investigation of the Suitability of Bra fit in Women Referred for Reduction Mammaplasty". British Journal of Plastic Surgery 56 (3): 230–6. doi:10.1016/S0007-1226(03)00122-X. PMID 12859918.
^ Loughry CW et al (1989). "Breast Volume Measurement of 598 Women using Biostereometric Analysis". Annals of Plastic Surgery 22 (5): 380–385. doi:10.1097/00000637-198905000-00002. PMID 2729845.
^ Olson, James Stuart (2002). Bathsheba's Breast: Women, Cancer and History. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-8018-6936-5. OCLC 186453370.
^ Dolya, Gayane. "Breast Asymmetry". http://www.menstrual-cycle.info/137-Breast-asymmetry.html. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
^ "Breast Development". Massachusetts Hospital for Children. Archived from the original on 2011-08-25. http://www.mgh.harvard.edu/children/adolescenthealth/articles/aa_breast_development.aspx. Retrieved 2010-6-2.
^ "Asymmetric Breasts". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 2011-08-25. http://www.channel4embarrassingillnesses.com/conditions/asymmetric-breasts/. Retrieved 6-2-2010.
^ "Asymmetric Breasts". Archived from the original on 2011-08-25. http://www.embarrassingissues.co.uk/AsymmetricBreasts.html. Retrieved 6-2-2010.
^ Losken A, Fishman I, Denson DD, Moyer HR, Carlson GW (December 2005). "An Objective Evaluation of Breast Symmetry and Shape Differences using 3-dimensional Images". Annals of Plastic Surgery 55 (6): 571–575. doi:10.1097/01.sap.0000185459.49434.5f. PMID 16327452.
^ ^a ^b "Breast Lift Procedure". Ricardo L. Rodriguez, MD. http://www.cosmeticsurg.net/procedures/Breast-Lift.php. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
^ Younai, S. Sean. "Breast Sagging - Ptosis". http://www.beautifulself.com/breastlift_ptosis.htm. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
^ Campolongo, Marianne (December 5, 2007). "What Causes Sagging Breasts?". http://www.newimage.com/resource-center/sagging-breasts.html. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
^ Bentley, Gillian R. (2001). "The Evolution of the Human Breast". American Journal of Physical Anthropology 32 (38): 30. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1033.
^ Morris (1967), pp. 64–68.
^ Wade, T. J. (2010). "The Relationships between Symmetry and Attractiveness and Mating Relevant Decisions and Behavior: A Review". Symmetry 2 (2): 1081. doi:10.3390/sym2021081. edit
^ "The Story of Bodhidharma". Usashaolintemple.org. http://www.usashaolintemple.org/chanbuddhism-history/. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
^ "Creation of the Teton Landscape: The Geologic Story of Grand Teton National Park (The Story Begins)". U.S. National Park Service. Last updated 19-Jan-2007. http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/grte/grte_geology/sec1.htm. Retrieved 2011-09-23.
^ Yalom (1998) pp. 9–16; see Eva Keuls (1993), Reign of the Phallus: Sexual Politics in Ancient Athens for a detailed study of male-dominant rule in ancient Greece.
^ Yalom (1998), p. 18.
^ Hollander (1993), p. 6.
^ "Secondary sex characteristics". .hu-berlin.de. http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/ATLAS_EN/html/secondary_characteristics.html. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
^ Neifert, M; DeMarzo S, Seacat J, Young D, Leff M, Orleans M (1990). "The influence of breast surgery, breast appearance and pregnancy-induced changes on lactation sufficiency as measured by infant weight gain". Birth 17 (1): 31–38. doi:10.1111/j.1523-536X.1990.tb00007.x. PMID 2288566.
^ "FAQ on Previous Breast Surgery and Breastfeeding". La Leche League International. 2006-08-29. http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/surgery.html. Retrieved 2007-02-11.
^ West, Diana. "Breastfeeding After Breast Surgery". Australian Breastfeeding Association. http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/surgery.html. Retrieved 2007-02-11.
^ Cruz-Korchin N, Korchin L (September 2004). "Breast-feeding after vertical mammaplasty with medial pedicle". Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 114 (4): 890–4. doi:10.1097/01.PRS.0000133174.64330.CC. PMID 15468394. http://meta.wkhealth.com/pt/pt-core/template-journal/lwwgateway/media/landingpage.htm?issn=0032-1052&volume=114&issue=4&spage=890.
^ Brzozowski D, Niessen M, Evans HB, Hurst LN (February 2000). "Breast-feeding after inferior pedicle reduction mammaplasty". Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 105 (2): 530–4. doi:10.1097/00006534-200002000-00008. PMID 10697157. http://meta.wkhealth.com/pt/pt-core/template-journal/lwwgateway/media/landingpage.htm?issn=0032-1052&volume=105&issue=2&spage=530.
^ Witte, PM; van der Lei B, van der Biezen JJ, Spronk CA (2004-06-26). "Successful breastfeeding after reduction mammaplasty". Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd 148 (26): 1291–93. PMID 15279213.
^ Kakagia, D; Tripsiannis G, Tsoutsos D (2005-10). "Breastfeeding after reduction mammaplasty: a comparison of 3 techniques". Ann Plast Surg 55 (4): 343–45. doi:10.1097/01.sap.0000179167.18733.97. PMID 16186694.
^ "Bra Cup Sizes—getting fitted with the right size". 1stbras.com. http://www.1stbras.com/Bra_Cup_Sizes.html. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
^ "The Right Bra". Liv.com. http://www.liv.com/right_bra.php. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
^ "Breast supporting act: a century of the bra". London: The Independent UK. 15 August 2007. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/breast-supporting-act-a-century-of-the-bra-461656.html. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
^ Breast size, bra fit and thoracic pain in young women: a correlational study retrieved 5 January 2012
^ "Sir Richard Burton's English translation of Kama Sutra". Sacred-texts.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-05. http://www.sacred-texts.com/sex/kama/index.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
^ Anders Pape Møller et al (1995). "Breast asymmetry, sexual selection, and human reproductive success". Ethology and Sociobiology 16 (3): 207–219. doi:10.1016/0162-3095(95)00002-3.
^ ^a ^b ^c Scientific proof that men look at women's breasts first and their face is almost last The Daily Telegraph
^ "Hourglass figure fertility link". BBC News. 2004-05-04. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3682657.stm. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
^ Hickey, Eric W. (2003). Encyclopaedia of Murder and Violent Crime. Sage Publications Inc. ISBN 978-0-7619-2437-1

Bibliography

Hollander, Anne Seeing through Clothes. University of California Press, Berkeley. 1993 ISBN 978-0-520-08231-1
Morris, Desmond The Naked Ape: a zoologist's study of the human animal Bantam Books, Canada. 1967
Yalom, Marilyn A History of the Breast. Pandora, London. 1998 ISBN 978-0-86358-400-8

External links

Look up breasts in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Media related to Breasts at Wikimedia Commons
Images of female breasts
Breast Cancer Treatment and Facts
“Are Women Evolutionary Sex Objects?: Why Women Have Breasts”

Human systems and organs

TA 2–4:
MS

Skeletal system	Bone (Carpus · Collar bone (clavicle) · Thigh bone (femur) · Fibula · Humerus · Mandible · Metacarpus · Metatarsus · Ossicles · Patella · Phalanges · Radius · Skull (cranium) · Tarsus · Tibia · Ulna · Rib · Vertebra · Pelvis · Sternum) · Cartilage

Joints	Fibrous joint · Cartilaginous joint · Synovial joint

Muscular system	Muscle · Tendon · Diaphragm

TA 5–11:
splanchnic/
viscus

mostly
Thoracic

Respiratory system	URT (Nose, Nasopharynx, Larynx) · LRT (Trachea, Bronchus, Lung)

mostly
Abdominopelvic

Digestive system+ adnexa	Mouth (Salivary gland, Tongue) · upper GI (Oropharynx, Laryngopharynx, Esophagus, Stomach) · lower GI (Small intestine, Appendix, Colon, Rectum, Anus) · accessory (Liver, Biliary tract, Pancreas)

GU: Urinary system	Kidney · Ureter · Bladder · Urethra

GU: Reproductive system	Female (Uterus, Vulva, Ovary, Placenta) · Male (Scrotum, Penis, Prostate, Testicle, Seminal vesicle)

Endocrine system

Pituitary · Pineal · Thyroid · Parathyroid · Adrenal · Islets of Langerhans

TA 12–16

Circulatory system

Cardiovascular system	peripheral (Artery, Vein, Lymphatic vessel) · Heart

Lymphatic system	primary (Bone marrow, Thymus) · secondary (Spleen, Lymph node)

Nervous system

(Brain, Spinal cord, Nerve) · Sensory system (Ear, Eye)

Integumentary system

Skin · Subcutaneous tissue · Breast (Mammary gland)

Blood
(Non-TA)

Myeloid	Myeloid immune system

Lymphoid	Lymphoid immune system

General anatomy: systems and organs, regional anatomy, planes and lines, superficial axial anatomy, superficial anatomy of limbs

Human regional anatomy (TA A01.1)

Head

Forehead · Ear · Jaw · Face (Cheek, Eye, Nose, Mouth, Chin) · Occiput · Scalp · Temple

Neck

Throat · Adam's apple

Trunk

Chest (Breast) · Abdomen (Navel) · Back · Pelvis (Sex organs)

Limbs

Upper limb	Shoulder · Axilla · Arm Elbow · Forearm Wrist · Hand · Finger (Thumb · Index · Middle · Ring · Little)

Lower limb/ (see also leg)	Hip · Buttocks · Thigh Knee · Calf · Crus Ankle · Heel · Foot · Toe (Hallux · Long • Third • Fourth • Fifth) · Sole

General anatomy: systems and organs, regional anatomy, planes and lines, superficial axial anatomy, superficial anatomy of limbs

Female breast (TA A16.0.02, GA 11.1267)

Nipple/Areola

Areolar glands · Crista supraareolaris (only fusiform breast)

Mammary glands

Lactiferous duct · Lobe

Forms

Mamma fusiformis · Mamma spherica · Mamma conica

Other

Intermammary cleft · Cooper's ligaments · Tail of Spence · Inframammary fold · Thelion

M: BRE

anat/phys/devp

noco/cong/tumr

proc

Disorders of breast (N60–N64, 610–611)

Mastitis

Puerperal mastitis (Breast engorgement) · Nonpuerperal mastitis (Subareolar abscess/Zuska's disease, Granulomatous mastitis)

Other

Benign mammary dysplasia (Duct ectasia of breast · Chronic cystic mastitis) · Galactorrhea · Mastodynia · nipple (Nipple discharge, Inverted nipple, Fissure of the nipple) · Galactocele · Ptosis · Breast cyst · Breast lump · Fat necrosis of breast · Gynecomastia · Hypertrophy of breast

M: BRE

Health and
education

Relationships
and society

By country

Sexual activities

Sex industry

Religion and sexuality

Sexuality portal

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

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Breasts

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categories related to 'breasting'

breast

breast

Breast

Etymology

Anatomy

Morphology

The functional breast

The anatomic breast

Lymphatic drainage

Shape and support

Development

Asymmetry

Hormonal change

Breast ptosis

Functions and health

Lactation

Reproduction

Mammary diseases

Cultural aspects

Anthropomorphic geography

Art history

Body image

Clothing

Sexual characteristic

Symbolism

See also

References

External links