There are many questions about the human being for which we have no answer.In Science Daily Online we have addressed issues such as the evolution of the human being or the Mysteries of the Human Brain, but sometimes we ask ourselves questions that Science has already been able to answer.Among these questions is: Can men breastfeed? If you've ever asked yourself this last, here we tell you!
Can men breastfeed? We'll tell you!
The simple answer is: yes, but it may not be as simple as that.Men can breastfeed only in extraordinary cases. Of the more than 4,000 species of mammals, the only one in which males spontaneously produce milk is the Indonesian bat. And, although scientists have investigated, even nobody knows why it happens
Certainly, men are born with the basic equipment for breastfeeding, that is, they have pituitary glands, milk ducts and nipples.Until there, there are no major differences with the female body, however, they lack hormonal changes which occur naturally during puberty and pregnancy, which prepares the woman's body for childbirth and subsequent lactation.
During pregnancy, the pituitary glands of women produce prolactin, a hormone that stimulates the development of mammary glands and triggers milk production. Males also produce this hormone but in much smaller amounts than females.Even when they are not pregnant, women have twice as much prol Actin than men, but during pregnancy, their prolactin production can increase up to ten times.
Men can breastfeed because they have the basic breast tissue necessary to produce milk, but even with a surge of prolactin caused because of frequent contact with a baby or the stimulation of a milk pump, they do not have, anatomically, as many milk ducts as a woman, so it is very unlikely that a significant milk production will occur.

Close physical interaction with babies, such as skin-to-skin contact and hugs, increases the amount of prolactin in the bloodstream of the Mothers and fathers .The same thing happens with frequent nipple stimulation, either by the sucking of the baby, by the use of manual extraction or by breast pumps.
After solving the dilemma and finding out that if it is possible for men to breastfeed a baby, since it is not impossible to produce milk, it is necessary to emphasize the fact that it is not something normal., as spontaneous milk production in a man can indicate some type of medical problem such as testosterone deficiency, overactive pituitary gland, liver cirrhosis or simply being the side effect of certain medications. In any case It is better to visit a specialist.
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Images: jakobking85, PublicDomainPictures
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