Breast atrophy

Breast atrophy is the normal or spontaneous atrophy or shrinkage of the breasts.^[1]

Breast atrophy
15th century sculpture depicting breast atrophy

Breast atrophy commonly occurs in women during menopause when estrogen levels decrease.^[2][3][4] It can also be caused by hypoestrogenism and/or hyperandrogenism in women in general,^[1] such as in antiestrogen treatment for breast cancer, in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS),^[5][6] and in malnutrition such as that associated with eating disorders like anorexia nervosa or with chronic disease.^[1][7][8] It can also be an effect of weight loss.^[8][9]

In the treatment of gynecomastia in males and macromastia in women, and in hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for trans men,^[10] breast atrophy may be a desired effect.

See also

• Mammoplasia
• Micromastia

References

1. Prem Puri; Michael E. Höllwarth (28 May 2009). Pediatric Surgery: Diagnosis and Management. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 257–258. ISBN 978-3-540-69560-8.
2. Melvin A. Shiffman (24 December 2009). Mastopexy and Breast Reduction: Principles and Practice. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 42–. ISBN 978-3-540-89873-3.
3. Kristen A. Atkins; Christina Kong (29 October 2012). Practical Breast Pathology: A Diagnostic Approach: A Volume in the Pattern Recognition Series. Elsevier Health Sciences. pp. 67–. ISBN 978-1-4557-3340-8.
4. Thomas J. Lawton (27 April 2009). Breast. Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–. ISBN 978-0-521-88159-3.
5. Ricardo Azziz (3 July 2007). The Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Current Concepts on Pathogenesis and Clinical Care. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 20–. ISBN 978-0-387-69248-7.
6. Susan Scott Ricci; Terri Kyle (2009). Maternity and Pediatric Nursing. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 213–. ISBN 978-0-7817-8055-1.
7. J.P. Lavery; J.S. Sanfilippo (6 December 2012). Pediatric and Adolescent Obstetrics and Gynecology. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 99–. ISBN 978-1-4612-5064-7.
8. Julia A. McMillan; Ralph D. Feigin; Catherine DeAngelis; M. Douglas Jones (2006). Oski's Pediatrics: Principles & Practice. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 558–. ISBN 978-0-7817-3894-1.
9. Cynthia Feucht; Donald E. Greydanus; Joav Merrick; Hatim A. Omar; Dilip R. Patel (2 April 2012). Pharmacotherapeutics in General, Mental and Sexual Health. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 287–. ISBN 978-3-11-025570-6.
10. Merril D. Smith (8 September 2014). Cultural Encyclopedia of the Breast. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 121–. ISBN 978-0-7591-2332-8.

External links