Thread by @feedukorg

Many of you will have seen this cool picture of #breastanatomy we shared earlier. You might have guessed by looking at it that it’s a representation & not an actual anatomical image. So, if you’re wondering what an anatomically correct boob is made of, read on! #TeamFeed (1/n)

Boobs, or mammary glands as we anatomists call them, are made up of a combination of glandular tissue, ducts, fat & supporting connective tissue. The glandular tissue synthesises breastmilk which travels along the ducts to the nipple #breastanatomy #TeamFeed (2/n)

This drawing is from an anatomical research paper (tinyurl.com/ramsay2005). If you’re really interested, a nice review of the more recent literature on breast anatomy was published by Hassiotou & Geddes in 2013 tinyurl.com/boobanatomyH-G #breastanatomy #TeamFeed (3/n)

Glandular tissue in the breast is super cool! It’s made up of millions of individual alveoli, little pouches that are lined with mammary epithelial cells - the cells that make milk - with a surrounding network of blood vessels #breastanatomy #TeamFeed (4/n)

Alveoli are clustered together in lobules, like a bunch of grapes! The bunches (lobules) then cluster into lobes. I think of the lobes like grapevines, with lots of bunches (lobules) containing lots of grapes (alveoli)! They don't make wine tho ;) #breastanatomy #TeamFeed (5/n)

Each alveoli can store a tiny volume of milk, which gets squeezed out by myoepithelial cells that surround them. These cells contract in response to oxytocin (OT) which is produced in response to suckling by the baby #breastanatomy #TeamFeed (6/n)

This means when your wee one is feeding, they’re not actually sucking out milk, they’re stimulating OT production which then causes milk to be squeezed out of the millions of alveoli! At the same time, prolactin causes more milk production – neat or what?! #breastanatomy (7/n)

Side note: this is called the milk ejection reflex and it’s my very favourite neuroendocrine reflex! #iloveboobs #breastanatomy #TeamFeed (8/n)

Check out this amazing picture of a real alveoli with the myoepithelial cells (M) around it! It was taken by a scanning electron microscope which is like a normal microscope but with super zoomability! #breastanatomy #TeamFeed (9/n)

When milk leaves the alveoli it travels through ducts to get to the nipple. Each alveoli has a wee duct that merges with others into a slightly bigger duct. The ducts continue to merge until they become the major milk ducts that open to the nipple #breastanatomy #TeamFeed (10/n)

There’s a lot of individual variation in no. of ducts. Studies have found 5-22 ducts in individual breasts. Not all of the major milk ducts are connected to lobes though & larger milk ducts can be connected together by smaller, minor ducts! #breastanatomy #TeamFeed (11/n)

There’s also huge individual variation in glandular & fat tissue making it hard to quantify the amount of glandular tissue in the old Bristols. This is why boob size is not a good indicator of potential for milk production #breastanatomy #TeamFeed (12/n)

Glandular tissue can also extend slightly towards the armpit (or the oxters as we call them here in Scotland!) This is called the axillary tail of the breast #breastanatomy #TeamFeed (13/n)

The accuracy of the initial image shared is hard to judge given there’s no source, labels or description. I reckon it’s a decent enough representation of lobules & ducts, & is similar to images found in textbooks, although I wouldn't use it in class #breastanatomy (14/n)

What this image *has* done is what no anatomical diagram has done before; it’s set the interweb alight with the talk of boob anatomy! Even @HuffPostUK has got in on the act! tinyurl.com/HuffPoBoobs We love that this has happened #moreboobtalkplease #breastanatomy #TeamFeed (15/n)

It’s also raised the important point that many women are unfamiliar with the anatomy of their breasts, & that the default educational imagery is often male. Were you aware that boobs were this cool? #breastanatomy #TeamFeed (16/n)

I’m lucky enough that I get to study mammary anatomy & share that knowledge for a living so if you’ve any questions hit me up & I’ll do my best to answer them! #reprorocks #boobloversunite #thanksforthemammaries #breastanatomy #TeamFeed Erin xx (17/end)

@threadreaderapp unroll please :)