A breast is simply a cluster of glands encased in fat. With the progesterone production that comes with puberty, the breasts awaken form their childhood slumber and begin to grow. they may keep developing for as long as four years. No matter how petite, a breast consists of fifteen to twenty lobes of glandular tissue. The lobes themselves encase thousands of tiny glands called alveoli. Like grapes, these are joined by a series ofducts that produce milk during lactation. Each lobe feeds into a single conduit to the nipple, behind which the ducts expand to form small reservoirs called lactiferous sinuses, each less than a tenth of an inch wide. The glandular tissue is cushioned by fat and connective tissue encased in skin, with the whole business connected to the chest wall by ligaments. These are the infamouse Cooper's ligaments, which as they grow weary with age, bring us the dreaded "Cooper's Droop."
And this is the sum total of the geography of the breast: an arguably inelegant sack of fat wrapped around some milk ducts, milk glands, and blood vessels, wrapped in skin and crowned with a nipple. This is what the fuss, the longing, the envy and heartache are all about.
From Stacked by Susan Seligson
