Accessory breast
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| ICD-10 | Q83.1 |
|---|---|
| ICD-9 | 757.6 |
| OMIM | 163700 |
| eMedicine | derm/735 |
Accessory breasts, also known as polymastia, supernumerary breasts, or mammae erraticae, is the condition of having an additional breast. Extra breasts may appear with or without nipples or areolae.
A related condition, in which extra nipples form, is called "supernumerary nipple" or "polythelia".
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[edit] Causes
It was once believed that polymastia results from the eruption of extra breasts along the milk line during embryonic development. However, this theory is not generally believed today and cannot account for the appearance of nipples that do not correspond to the milk line's pathway [1]. In unusual cases, extra breasts may appear on the buttock, the back of the neck, the face, the upper arm, the shoulder, the hip, or the back.[citation needed]
Polymastia is often associated with abnormalities of the urinary tract and with certain diseases. (PMID 11500714)
One theory, originally advanced by Charles Darwin, is that polymastia represents a throwback to an earlier evolutionary point of development in which mammals had more than two mammary glands. [2] Other non-primate mammals have multiple breasts arranged along milk lines, and the hypothesis goes that embryologic development recapitulates human evolution so that the embryo’s appearance resembles a fish, a reptile, and so on, before becoming recognizably human. Adherents to this idea thus consider multiple breasts and nipples to be obsolete bodyparts like wisdom teeth, sagittal crests, and possibly the vermiform appendix [3].
[edit] Notable examples
- Anne Boleyn, second wife to Henry VIII of England, and mother of Elizabeth I, may have had a third nipple or even a third breast. [4], PMID 10653061 (This may well have been a slanderous rumour, as in Tudor times these "malformations" were considered to be a sign of the person having them being a witch. The circumstances of her marriage to the king, who had divorced his first wife, made her a controversial figure.)
[edit] In popular culture and fiction
In mythology, attributes are exaggerated or multiplied to emphasize their efficacy. For example, Priapus has been depicted with an oversized penis, and Artemis of Ephesus has been portrayed as having tier upon tier of breasts. Priapus' gigantic phallus underscores his virility and his fertility, while Artemis' tiers of breasts highlight her ability to nurture.
Accessory breasts and supernumerary nipples have often been the subject of popular speculation and urban legend.
- According to the web site SexualRecords.com, the most supernumerary breasts on record is eight (in addition to the usual pair). [5]
The additional-breast motif has also been used in motion pictures, TV shows, novels and other works of fiction:
- In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy novel series, Eccentrica Gallumbits, the Triple-Breasted Whore of Eroticon 6, is a frequently alluded-to character.
- The movie Total Recall features a mutant prostitute with three side-by-side breasts (a likely homage to Eccentrica Gallumbits, above).
- Another film, The Sword and the Sorcerer, features a dancer with two breasts in the normal positions and a third centered below them.
- A similar fantasy filmic exotic dancer in The Warrior and the Sorceress has four breasts, two appearing below the regular pair.
- In the Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 universes, the female daemons of the god Slaanesh are typically depicted with either three or six breasts.
