Lactation - Psychology verses Physiology
(Part III)
When researching a subject, I will try to follow a hypothesis, or theory, to it's logical conclusion. To understand how lactation could be induced, I followed the hypothesis that body chemistry, (including brain chemistry and increased levels of hormones), was the controlling factor in lactation. It appeared that stimulation of the breasts and nipples sent signals, (via the nervous system), to the brain, causing the brain to alter it's chemistry, which in turn increased the secretion of the hormones Prolactin and Oxytocin into the bloodstream. These hormones are then carried, via the bloodstream, to the Mammary Glands and milk ducts causing the milk letdown reflex and milk to be synthesized in the Mammary Glands. The end result being milk flowing from the nipple. Good theory, but it leaves unanswered questions.
Most of the theory holds true: how lactation occurs has been well researched by medical science, and signals sent by stimulation of the breast and nipples do indeed cause changes in brain chemistry. And these changes in brain chemistry do cause the Pituitary Gland to secrete more Prolactin and Oxytocin into the bloodstream. These hormones are then distributed evenly throughout the body, including the Mammary Glands and milk ducts. But here is where the theory breaks down. If lactation were controlled by body chemistry alone: since there are other circumstances where the levels of Prolactin and Oxytocin are elevated in the bloodstream, a woman would lactate any time the levels of these hormones became elevated. Yet a woman normally lactates only when stimulation of the breasts occurs for the need to breast feed.
An example: when a woman's breasts are stimulated by foreplay during lovemaking, the levels of Prolactin and Oxytocin are also elevated; however, normally she doesn't lactate during this activity. Also, when a woman bathes and dresses herself, this can cause stimulation of the breasts and nipples, but she doesn't letdown and lactate then either, even if she has milk. Another point that makes me question whether Prolactin is the controlling factor for making milk in the Mammary Gland is when a woman breast feeds, only the breast being suckled produces milk; the other breast usually does nothing, as if it is waiting for the signal to make milk. During this time, both breasts would be saturated with higher levels of Prolactin and Oxytocin which has been supplied equally via the bloodstream, and both breasts should be lactating equally, yet this usually isn't the case.
At the same time, a woman who has milk but is not engorged, may be going about her daily routine without any thought or need to breast feed. At this time, the levels of Prolactin and Oxytocin in her bloodstream would likely be lower, yet it is not uncommon for a lactating woman to instantly letdown and leak at the sound of a baby crying. The speed at which a woman can spontaneously letdown and leak is faster than what the bloodstream can move Prolactin and Oxytocin from the Pituitary Gland, (located at the base of the brain), to the Mammary Glands in the breasts. Since the speed at which spontaneous letdown and leakage can occur, the conclusion could be drawn that something else must be switching on the Mammary Glands. The first thought that comes to mind is only the brain can cause the body to react this fast.
Another puzzle I have contemplated without conclusion is if you were to mix body fluids, blood sugars, and Prolactin in a beaker, you would have a mixture of body fluids, blood sugars, and Prolactin: not breast milk. Breast milk is a mixture of milk sugars, milk fats and antibodies that didn't exist before body fluids passed through the Mammary gland: so what is it about the Mammary Gland that causes milk to be synthesized? A theory without evidence to back it up: is it possible that Prolactin is not the controlling factor that makes the Mammary Glands synthesize milk, but rather Prolactin is only a constituent of milk, an ingredient? Perhaps the catalyst that causes the Mammary Gland to synthesize milk from body fluids is continual electrical impulses from the brain, supplied via the nervous system much in the same manner that the brain delivers continual electrical impulses to other organs in the body, such as the heart.
Also another point I have puzzled over. It is also known that the interior walls of the milk ducts are made up of mostly Myoepithelial Cells, and when these specialized skin cells are exposed to the hormone Oxytocin, they contract. Milk is "pumped" from the Mammary Glands to the milk sinuses behind the nipples by contraction of the milk ducts. When latch and suckling is working right, milk is suckled from the milk sinuses only, not from the Mammary Glands themselves. For this to occur, the milk ducts must contract in a manner similar to the way the esophagus moves food from the mouth to the stomach, in kind of a linear pulsing contraction. If the only controlling factor was body chemistry: when a milk duct was exposed to Oxytocin it would contract and stay contracted; milk can not be pumped through a continually contracted milk duct. It appears that body chemistry alone can not cause a linear pulsing contraction in a milk duct, but the combination of exposure to Oxytocin, and electrical impulses from the brain rotating through the nerves along the milk duct possibly could.
Another thought without evidence, is it possible the tingling a woman feels during letdown is actually electrical impulses from the brain switching on the Mammary Glands.
So far this is mostly conjecture; however, if the theory holds true that lactation is actually controlled by the brain rather than body chemistry, then it should be possible to train the subconscious mind to switch on the Mammary Glands when needed, much in same the manner the subconscious is trained to move muscles when a baby learns to walk.
There is much debate as to what the subconscious actually is and where in the brain it is located; even some debate as to whether it is separate mental process from the conscious mind. Debate or not, a separate subconscious mental process definitely does exist; it is the portion of the mind that performs the mundane and repetitive tasks of our body, which in turn allows the conscious mind to focus on higher thinking. An example: if you were to tear a sheet of paper from a note pad and place it on a table, you don't consciously direct the muscles in your fingers, hand and arm as to how to perform the task, rather you focus your conscious mind on the end result of the paper lying on the table, while your subconscious mind directs the details of performing the task.
Much in the same manner, when a woman is breast feeding she is focused on the end result of milk flowing from her nipple and not the details of how to perform the task of synthesizing milk from body fluids. The subconscious mind is handling the details of synthesizing milk in the Mammary Glands.
One of the problems with induced lactation is that it rarely results in a state of full lactation. In the case of adult nursing, often lower milk production is desirable; it is easier to achieve and lessens the danger of leakage in public. However, when a woman is inducing lactation to breast feed an adopted infant, low milk production is not an option; the nutritional needs of the child must be met. If lactation is indeed controlled by electrical impulses from the brain, then it opens the possibility that not only can a woman reach a full state of lactation by inducing, she could likely do it in an exceptionally short time.
Without lessening the importance of existing physical techniques of inducing lactation: by formulating new mental techniques for inducing, a woman may be able to increase her success dramatically. Perhaps there is something to the phrase "Think Milk"!
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