chest

Eva Rudolf-Müller is a freelance writer in the medical team. She studied human medicine and newspaper sciences and has repeatedly worked in both areas - as a doctor in the clinic, as a reviewer, and as a medical journalist for various specialist journals. She is currently working in online journalism, where a wide range of medicine is offered to everyone.

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The female breast is the body's largest gland whose secretion, milk, is used to nourish newborns and babies. But it is not only a mammary gland, but also a secondary sexual characteristic, an erogenous zone and a symbol of femininity and fertility. Read everything you need to know about the breast: anatomy, function and major diseases!

What is the chest

The female breast (mamma) consists of two hemispherical protrusions on the rib cage, between which there is an elongated furrow, the bosom. She is fully trained only with women. The male breast is basically constructed in the same way, but not developed.

The breast (woman) consists of a glandular body (corpus mammae), which is surrounded by a pad of fat, as well as connective tissue. It has no muscle tissue. There are very different breast shapes and sizes: They are genetically determined, but are influenced by various factors such as age, hormonal status, nutritional status and pregnancy. The most natural shape is the breast teardrop shape, which is also most commonly used for implants.

The breast is pervaded by blood vessels, nerves and lymph vessels. Of particular importance is the lymphatic drainage, which mainly takes place in the direction of the armpit, but also in the direction of the sternum and collarbone. It is the way of metastasis in malignant tumors: cancer cells can get from the breast to other parts of the body via the lymphatic system.

The mammary gland

The actual milk-producing glandular tissue (glandula mammaria), the milk gland, consists of a solid, round and flattened body. It is made up of 15 to 20 grape-shaped glandular lobes (lobules), each connected to the nipple via a milk duct (ductus lactiferi) and arranged in a star shape around it. Small bulges at the ends of the milk ducts, the milk sacs (sinus lactiferi), take on a pumping function when breastfeeding.

The nipple

You can read more about this in the article nipple.

What is the function of the breast?

The breast function is primarily to provide the milk for feeding the newborn and infant.With puberty a stronger development of the glandular chambers (alveoli) begins in girls, which expand into vesicles, the wall of which consists of milk epithelium and a basement membrane. This development peaks during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Where is the chest located?

The chest is at the level of the third, sixth, or seventh ribs on the rib cage. It rests on the chest muscle and is easy to move.

What problems can the breast cause?

Inflammation of the mammary gland is known as mastitis. It manifests itself in a painful reddening and overheating of the tissue. There are two forms of mastitis: The Puerperal mastitis is an acute inflammation in the puerperium that usually occurs in the second week after giving birth. Bacterial or abacterial inflammation outside of pregnancy and the puerperium is considered to be Non-puerperal mastitis designated. It almost always occurs in gender-free women and rarely after menopause.

The term mastopathy describes various changes in the mammary gland tissue, which can be proliferative (with rapid cell division and cell growth) or regressive (regressive). The cause is always a hormonal disorder, for example an excess of estrogen, a deficiency of progesterone or a deficiency of thyroid hormones. Mastopathy generally affects both breasts. It is widespread: it affects around 50 to 60 percent of all women.

Mastodynia is the cycle-dependent chest pain. It occurs especially before the menstrual period (premenstrual). The cause seems to be a hormonal imbalance between estrogen and progesterone (in favor of the estrogen level). The incidence of mastodynia increases in women aged 30 and over, but is rare after the menopause. Doctors refer to breast pain that is not cycle-dependent as mastalgia.

In most cases, benign breast tumors are so-called fibroadenomas. These are growths of connective tissue that can appear individually or in groups. They develop particularly in women between the ages of 30 and 35. Also benign tumors are lipomas - growths of adipose tissue. Both fibroadenomas and lipomas are sometimes surgically removed, sometimes left and observed.

A malignant tumor in the breast is called breast cancer. It starts either from the glandular lobules or the milk ducts. It is the most common cancer in women worldwide.

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