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The Higher Temperature in the Areola Supports the Natural Progression of the Birth to Breastfeeding Continuum
Numerous functional features that promote the natural progression of the birth to breastfeeding continuum are concentrated in the human female’s areolar region. The aim of this study was to look more closely into the thermal characteristics of areola, which are said to regulate the local evaporation...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2015
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4376620/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25815834 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118774 |
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author | Zanardo, Vincenzo Straface, Gianluca |
author_facet | Zanardo, Vincenzo Straface, Gianluca |
author_sort | Zanardo, Vincenzo |
collection | PubMed |
description | Numerous functional features that promote the natural progression of the birth to breastfeeding continuum are concentrated in the human female’s areolar region. The aim of this study was to look more closely into the thermal characteristics of areola, which are said to regulate the local evaporation rate of odors and chemical signals that are uniquely important for the neonate’s ‘breast crawl’. A dermatological study of the areolae and corresponding intern breast quadrants was undertaken on the mothers of 70 consecutive, healthy, full-term breastfed infants. The study took place just after the births at the Policlinico Abano Terme, in Italy from January to February 2014. Temperature, pH and elasticity were assessed one day postpartum using the Soft Plus 5.5 (Callegari S.P.A., Parma, Italy). The mean areolar temperature was found to be significantly higher than the corresponding breast quadrant (34.60 ±1.40°C vs. 34.04 ±2.00°C, p<0.001) and the pH was also significantly higher (4.60±0.59 vs. 4.17±0.59, p<0.001). In contrast, the elasticity of the areolar was significantly lower (23.52±7.83 vs. 29.02±8.44%, p<0.003). Our findings show, for the first time, that the areolar region has a higher temperature than the surrounding breast skin, together with higher pH values and lower elasticity. We believe that the higher temperature of the areolar region may act as a thermal signal to guide the infant directly to the nipple and to the natural progression of the birth to breastfeeding continuum. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4376620 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2015 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-43766202015-04-04 The Higher Temperature in the Areola Supports the Natural Progression of the Birth to Breastfeeding Continuum Zanardo, Vincenzo Straface, Gianluca PLoS One Research Article Numerous functional features that promote the natural progression of the birth to breastfeeding continuum are concentrated in the human female’s areolar region. The aim of this study was to look more closely into the thermal characteristics of areola, which are said to regulate the local evaporation rate of odors and chemical signals that are uniquely important for the neonate’s ‘breast crawl’. A dermatological study of the areolae and corresponding intern breast quadrants was undertaken on the mothers of 70 consecutive, healthy, full-term breastfed infants. The study took place just after the births at the Policlinico Abano Terme, in Italy from January to February 2014. Temperature, pH and elasticity were assessed one day postpartum using the Soft Plus 5.5 (Callegari S.P.A., Parma, Italy). The mean areolar temperature was found to be significantly higher than the corresponding breast quadrant (34.60 ±1.40°C vs. 34.04 ±2.00°C, p<0.001) and the pH was also significantly higher (4.60±0.59 vs. 4.17±0.59, p<0.001). In contrast, the elasticity of the areolar was significantly lower (23.52±7.83 vs. 29.02±8.44%, p<0.003). Our findings show, for the first time, that the areolar region has a higher temperature than the surrounding breast skin, together with higher pH values and lower elasticity. We believe that the higher temperature of the areolar region may act as a thermal signal to guide the infant directly to the nipple and to the natural progression of the birth to breastfeeding continuum. Public Library of Science 2015-03-27 /pmc/articles/PMC4376620/ /pubmed/25815834 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118774 Text en © 2015 Zanardo, Straface http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Zanardo, Vincenzo Straface, Gianluca The Higher Temperature in the Areola Supports the Natural Progression of the Birth to Breastfeeding Continuum |
title | The Higher Temperature in the Areola Supports the Natural Progression of the Birth to Breastfeeding Continuum |
title_full | The Higher Temperature in the Areola Supports the Natural Progression of the Birth to Breastfeeding Continuum |
title_fullStr | The Higher Temperature in the Areola Supports the Natural Progression of the Birth to Breastfeeding Continuum |
title_full_unstemmed | The Higher Temperature in the Areola Supports the Natural Progression of the Birth to Breastfeeding Continuum |
title_short | The Higher Temperature in the Areola Supports the Natural Progression of the Birth to Breastfeeding Continuum |
title_sort | higher temperature in the areola supports the natural progression of the birth to breastfeeding continuum |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4376620/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25815834 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118774 |
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