CHENNAI, India (Reuters Health) – Applying sunflower seed oil or Aquaphor to the skin of very premature neonates in hospital settings reduces mortality, according to results of a study from Bangladesh.

The beneficial effects of emollients could be through improvements in the skin barrier resulting in protection from bacteria and reduced water and heat loss, Dr. Gary Darmstadt from the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, said. "Perhaps the oil acts not only locally on the skin, but has a systemic effect as well due to absorption into the bloodstream, even perhaps on the barrier function of the gastrointestinal tract," he speculated.

"I suspect that massage that occurs in the process of applying the oil to the skin is also important," he added. An important determinant of the high illness and death rates for very preterm infants is a compromised skin barrier, Darmstadt and colleagues said in Pediatrics.