Breasts, Bras and Scientific Studies

I just read an article concerning a French study about breasts and bras. Unsurprisingly, the study was conducted by a French university and not by Brigham Young University (“BYU”).

The following is from the Huffington Post, see

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/11/women-bras-study-france-false-necessity_n_3062114.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Women who go braless may actually have the right idea, new research suggests. According to the results of a 15-year study in France published Wednesday, bras provide no benefits to women and may actually be harmful to breasts over time.

"Medically, physiologically, anatomically, the breast does not benefit from being deprived of gravity," Jean-Denis Rouillon, a professor at the University of Franche-Comté in Besançon, told France Info.
Conducting the study at the university's hospital, Rouillon measured and examined the breasts of more than 300 women, aged 18 and 35, taking note of how the additional support provided by bras affects the body over time. (It should be noted the study does not mention breast size.) Overall, he found that women who did not use bras benefited in the long term, developing more muscle tissue to provide natural support. As France's The Local notes, Rouillon also noticed that nipples gained a higher lift, in relation to the shoulders, on women who went braless. When bras are worn, the restrictive material prevents such tissue from growing, which may actually accelerate sagging, the study concluded.

Capucine Vercellotti, a 28-year-old woman who participated in the research, found that she breathes easier without the constraints of a bra.
"At first, I was a little reluctant to the idea of running without a bra, but I got started and after five minutes, I had no trouble at all," Vercellotti said, according to the Agence France-Presse.

A few comments about this study:

 

            1.         The person who came up with the idea for such a study is a genius.  I can imagine him explaining his breast and bra analysis to his wife. “Honestly, honey, I have to do this for work, why else would I be inspecting and thinking about women’s breasts?”

 

            2.         Without really knowing it, most men have been researchers on similar studies since they were about 13 years old.

 

            3.         I like to posts photos with my blog entries, but I am pretty sure that if I post photos with this blog entry, I will not hear the end of it from the Lovely Sharon.