The Breasts
Breast Anatomy
The breasts are among the secondary sex characteristics that make females different from males. This is because they are physical characteristics other than the genitalia that distinguish the genders. On an adult woman, the breasts are tear-shaped structures that are made up of glandular, fatty and fibrous tissues. They are supported by and attached to the major chest muscle, the pectoralis major, by fibrous strands. The breast glands are surrounded by a layer of fatty tissues that extend throughout the entire breast. These tissues are what give the breasts their soft consistency. The milk glands can secrete milk when a woman is breast-feeding a baby.
The amount of glandular tissue present in the breast does not vary much from woman to woman, despite differences in breast size. These tissues house the lobules (the milk producing glands at the ends of the lobes) and ducts (milk passages). When a woman is lactating, the bulbs on the ends of these lobules are the structures that produce the milk. Once this milk is produced, it is transported through the ducts to the nipple.
The system of milk glands and ducts slightly resemble bundles of grapes, with the ducts being the stems and the glands being the grapes. The milk ducts and glands are separated into several clusters (called lobules). Each average female breast consists of 15-20 of these bundles. These lobes are what feel like little nodes or lumps right before menstruation.
The nipple is in the center of the areola, the darker region of the external breast. Montgomery