What is the breast

Breasts are very important to women. In recent years, the incidence of breast diseases has been very high. The most common one is mastitis. Many people do not pay much attention to mastitis and cannot treat it in time, which will result in some serious situations. If breast cancer occurs, it will be harmful to women's life safety. Everyone should pay attention to breast problems and understand what breasts are?

Do you all know what mammary glands are? Everyone should know about mammary glands, but you probably don’t know what the real mammary glands are. For women who are breastfeeding, the mammary glands can secrete milk very well. You should learn more about some common knowledge about mammary glands.

Introduction

The fibrous connective tissue that supports and holds the breast in place is called the suspensory ligaments of the breast or Cooper's ligaments. The deep layer of the superficial fascia is located deep in the breast and is connected to the superficial layer of the pectoralis major fascia by loose tissue, which is called the retromammary space. It can make the breast relatively fixed while allowing a certain degree of mobility on the chest wall. Sometimes, part of the breast gland can pass through the loose tissue and penetrate into the superficial layer of the pectoralis major muscle. Therefore, during radical mastectomy, the pectoralis major muscle fascia and muscle should be removed together. Fibrous connective tissue extends between the breast tissue, forming many compartments. Therefore, in acute mastitis, the abscess cavity is often divided into several parts. These fibrous connective tissues stabilize the breasts and prevent them from sagging when a person stands, so they are called suspensory ligaments of the breasts. When you get breast cancer, the tumor can invade this ligament and cause it to shrink, so the breast skin becomes sunken and forms an "orange peel" appearance.

The mammary gland is composed of 15 to 20 lobes, each lobe is divided into several lobules, each lobule is composed of 10 to 100 alveoli, which are closely arranged around the small milk ducts, and the openings of the alveoli are connected to the small milk ducts.

Function

The mammary glands can secrete milk under the action of prolactin, thereby providing food for the young. In humans, progesterone and lutein promote the development of terminal ducts of mammary lobules into small alveoli. After delivery, the secretion of prolactin increases significantly and the mammary glands begin to secrete milk.

structure

The number (2 to 20) and location (on the abdomen or chest) of mammary glands vary from species to species. In most mammals, the mammary gland opening is a nipple, which has a certain number of milk duct openings, but only one milk duct leads to the storage cavity.

Asler Cooper discovered in 1839 that women have 15-20 mammary ducts, but American Susan Love and Karen Lindsay's research suggests that there are actually only 6-9 mammary ducts that lead from the gland to the nipple, and the remaining openings found in the nipple are sebaceous gland openings, not mammary duct openings.

A longitudinal section of a human breast resembles an upside-down tree. The "root" is the nipple, and the "crown" is the numerous branched, radially arranged mammary leaves. The mammary gland is divided into 15 to 20 lobes by fibrous septa emitted by adipose tissue. Each lobe has a lactiferous duct, which forms an enlarged afferent sinus near the nipple, and its end becomes thinner and opens into the nipple.

The mammary gland is divided into 15 to 25 lobes by connective tissue. Each lobe is divided into several lobules, and each lobule is a compound tubuloalveolar gland. The alveolar epithelium is a single-layer cubic or columnar structure, with myoepithelial cells between the epithelial cells and the basement membrane. The ducts include the intralobular duct, the superior interlobular duct and the common duct. The intralobular ducts are mostly single-layer columnar or cubic epithelium, the interlobular ducts are stratified columnar epithelium, and the main ducts, also known as the lactiferous ducts, open in the nipple. The walls of the ducts are stratified squamous epithelium and are continuous with the epidermis of the lower nipple.

Everyone should know what the breast is. The breast is very important to female friends, and it has many functions. However, in recent years, more and more women have suffered from breast diseases. Everyone should be able to reflect in time to see how they got breast diseases. They should do a good job of preventing this disease in daily life and make themselves the most perfect woman.