An Article Summary: Your Boobs Start to Eat Themselves after Breastfeeding is Over By: Linda Geddes

Women's breasts consist of a network of tube, wrapped by a layer of fatty tissue. Throughout the pregnancy, hormonal signals cause epithelial cells lining the ducts to proliferate and form ball-like structures namely alveoli, where milk is produced when the baby is born. However, once women stop breastfeeding, these structures perform a self-destructing process that involves immense cellular suicide and the elimination of the debris.

"One of the least understood aspects of this process is how the excess milk and large numbers of dead cells are removed from the mammary gland without substantial activation of the immune system," said a cancer biologist at the University of Sydney in Australia, named Matthew Naylor.

After lactation, the epithelial cells tend to eat their dead neighbors. Since a protein called Rac1 is vital for normal milk-making, as well as phagocytosis in immune cells, it might also be engaged in this breast remodeling. To examine, Nasreen Akhtar at the University of Sheffield and her partners conducted an experiment on female mice whose Rac1 gene was removed. This revealed that without Rac1, chronic inflammations were activated as well as swelling. Hence, although extended breastfeeding reduces overall cancer risk, women still have the threat of developing aggressive breast cancer for the first 5 to 10 years following pregnancy due to the inflammation during breast remodeling.

Not bad at all!

Women's breasts consist of a network of tubes , wrapped by a ...

...said a cancer biologist at the University of Sydney in Australia, named (You can omit 'named') Matthew Naylor.

...female mice whose Rac1 gene was removed (I don't think you can say "whose" and be referring to mice. I would say "that had their Rac1 genes removed)

...The results revealed that without Rac1, chronic inflammations and swelling were activated in the breast .

And since you're summarizing, It wouldn't hurt to refer back to the original article in your summary and say something like "In the article "Your Boobs Start to Eat Themselves after Breastfeeding is Over" by Linda Geddes, she investigates the questions behind the mass cell destruction in breasts following lactation" or the likes. :)

Hi Fitriani, after reading your essay, it actually made me think of mothers nursing their babies, something that mothers know best and are also doing a very noble act of love, I believe this is one thing that our mothers are the most respectable and possess undying love to us, yes, they may be a pain sometimes and may not understand all there is that we do as youngsters, but hey, they put up with us, in every single way possible.

Now, going back to your article summary, I believe you have made a well rounded summary, as I mentioned, it made me understand the process of lactation, breastfeeding and pretty much the whole process of nursing a beloved child.

It also made me realize that, our mothers definitely had a lot to take to nourish and keep us healthy, I believe this is what most mothers would do for their children and a mothers love is no other love we can ever receive in our lives.

Thank you for understanding the article and effectively summarizing it, it is really very effective. Keep writing.