Can Men Nutritionally Breastfeed or Lactate?

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The capacity to lactate exists in a variety of male animals, though male milk production is typically a rare occurrence. Male Dayak fruit bats generally lactate but what about human male lactation? It might be a bit difficult to believe but men can lactate.

The main reason men don't lactate very often is mostly due to just a lack of sufficient amounts of a single necessary hormone even though they possess all the necessary equipment.

When properly triggered, milk is produced in small hollow cavities in breast tissue called alveoli, where the linings contain cells that secrete milk.

The main trigger for milk production is sufficient amounts of the hormone prolactin which is primarily produced by the pituitary gland, though also by the prostate in men and a layer of the uterine wall known as the myometrium in women. There are a variety of things that go into someone lactating, including various hormones too.

Both men and women have alveoli but have considerably distinctive levels of prolactin. A normal non-pregnant woman has about one third to twice the hormone than the average man at any given time.

Late in pregnancy period and after giving birth, prolactin levels can rise as high as ten times more exceeding in these women compared to what you'll typically find in men.

 

How Can Men Lactate Without the Vital Processes Required in Childbirth Triggering a Ramp-Up of Prolactin Production?

Prolactin is ultimately metabolized by the liver helping to regulate its concentration in the body in conjunction with certain mechanisms in the hypothalamus. Abnormally high levels of specific hormones may increase when the liver isn't functioning accurately.

This is something considered to have happened to hundreds of male POWs during WWII who after starving for months, started to lactate during their recovery; experts suggest that the stress and deprivation interfered with the liver and certain hormone-producing glands' regular activities.

Once properly fed, the liver took longer to recover than the hormone-producing glands resulting in a greater concentration of prolactin in the POWs' bodies, causing them to lactate.

In Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine (1896), it is reported that both a male South American native and male Brazilian missionaries nursed children after their wives lost the ability.

A similar but modern and well-documented report in 2002 stated that a Sri Lankan man, Mr. B Wijeratne, took up breastfeeding his 18-month-old daughter after his wife died giving birth to their second child.

He initially had attempted to feed the elder daughter formula upon her mother's death, but this was promptly refused by the toddler. He later stated, "unable to see her cry, I offered my breast. That's when I discovered that I could breastfeed her."

The receptors are responsible for triggering the brain to stimulate the pituitary gland to produce more prolactin and trigger the release of oxytocin, which helps in getting the milk flowing, exist and function in both men and women.

This method is commonly observed in cases of women adopting babies and desiring to breastfeed them. This can be achieved via regularly having the child suckle and further using a breast pump every few hours over the course of several weeks.

For men, alike women, in any event, the net result of having a baby around and regularly using a breast pump/letting said baby suckle results in a prolactin spike. For some men, this may be high enough to trigger milk production, allowing the male to breastfeed a baby.

Some drugs seldom have the side effect of risen prolactin concentration in the body adequate to cause male lactation, such as the anti-psychotic chlorpromazine (marketed under the name Thorazine and Largactil) and the heart medication digoxin (marketed under the name Lanoxin).

And if the nutritional value of human male breast milk is compared to female breast milk, in a 1981 study of a lactating human male, it was concluded that, much like the milk found in both male and female lactating babies, "The concentrations of lactose, proteins, and electrolytes in the breast secretion of this man are within the range of colostrum and milk obtained from normal lactating women."

Written by – Anusha Vajha

Edited by – Adrija Sha