Xref: utzoo sci.bio:929 sci.med:4268
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bu-cs!bzs
From: bzs@bu-cs.BU.EDU (Barry Shein)
Newsgroups: sci.bio,sci.med
Subject: Re: male breastfeeding
Message-ID: <20139@bu-cs.BU.EDU>
Date: 24 Feb 88 01:20:56 GMT
References: <1686@brahma.cs.hw.ac.uk> <9626@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> <1636@aecom.YU.EDU>
Organization: Boston U. Comp. Sci.
Lines: 46
In-reply-to: werner@aecom.YU.EDU's message of 23 Feb 88 03:47:20 GMT



From Craig Warner...
>	I don't even know why I continue to debate the point. I suppose
>that as sci.med's resident dartboard,I feel dutybound.

Craig, stop being so damn defensive, you'll pollute the atmosphere.

What's wrong with a little controversial discussion? I don't see
anyone being impolite or throwing darts, just quoting various sources
or asking questions etc.

>Note well, however, that the stimulation of a male to lactation involves 
>a significant amount of feminization, some of which is irreversible, 
>and I really think that it is irresponsible to advocate male breast feeding.

That's probably true, I believe you. Describing it as a "disease"
condition might be a little ethnocentric (tho in this "ethno" it is
certainly advice that must be offered by any responsible physician.)

However, if La Leche and others are correct that there exist cultures
which do occasionally or regularly use men as nursemaids (apparently
without use of modern drug derivations such as estrogens) successfully
it's interesting by itself, medical anthropology and all that, what's
the big deal?

The impression I get is that the irreversible feminization is cosmetic
in effect and doesn't present any real life-threatening or otherwise
debilitating condition other than possible psychological effects which
I agree most men in this culture would find disturbing (as usual, I
more than welcome any correction), but somewhere here we might be
crossing a fine line referring to it as "a significant of a disease
state", no?

Well, ok, I'll certainly grant that if it occurs spontaneously and I
were an MD I'd consider it a "significant of a disease state", you did
say "usually", and would want to look into it, but that's not what was
being discussed, was it? We were discussing lactation in men
apparently induced by allowing an infant to suckle the breast.

But somehow the original question is being lost in this discussion, no
one asked if it were common to see men lactating in NYC, they said
that various sources have claimed this to be possible.

Calm down, the truth will out (usually.)

	-Barry Shein, Boston University