Everything about Male Lactation totally explained
The phenomenon of
male lactation in humans has become more common in recent years due to the use of
medications that stimulate a man's
mammary glands. Though boys and men have
nipples, many are unaware that they also have mammary glands. In ordinary circumstances, there's so little mammary tissue that it's unnoticeable; if the male breasts develop visibly, the condition is called
gynecomastia. Under the appropriate hormonal stimulus—that nature provides to human females when they become
pregnant and give
birth—the mammary glands of human males can also produce
milk. The volume of milk produced is low relative to that of a lactating female. Male lactation has, in some cases, commenced without hormonal treatments as well. Newborn baby boys (and girls) can occasionally produce milk because of the intense hormones involved in their mother's pregnancy and the hours of childbirth; this is called
witch's milk.
Male lactation is most commonly caused by hormonal treatments given to men suffering from
prostate cancer. Female
hormones are used to slow the production of cancerous prostate tissue, but the same hormones also stimulate the mammary glands. Male-to-female
transsexuals may also produce milk owing to the hormones they take to reshape their bodies. It can occasionally be a side-effect of
antipsychotic medication. Extreme
stress combined with demanding physical activity and a shortage of food has also been known to cause male lactation. The phenomenon was first studied in survivors of the liberated
Nazi concentration camps after
World War II. Some
American POWs returning from the
Korean and
Vietnam Wars also experienced male lactation.
The phenomenon of male lactation occurs in some non-human
species, notably the
Dayak fruit bat (
Dyacopterus spadiceus), and the lactating males may assist in the
nursing of their
infants. In addition, male
goats are known to lactate on occasion.
In
Why Is Sex Fun?,
Jared Diamond reports of male and female cancer patients being treated with
estrogen who proceeded to lactate when injected with
prolactin, and suggests that mechanical stimulation of male breasts, by releasing prolactin, could result in lactation. He also mentions teenage boys lactating after self stimulation of their nipples.
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