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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...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Zanardo, Vincenzo, Straface, Gianluca
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2015
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.
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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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