25 Percent Of Infants Suffer From Intestinal Colic

25 Percent Of Infants Suffer From Intestinal Colic.
Colic is a workaday maladjusted for babies, and new research may finally provide clues to its cause: A mignon study found that infants with colic seemed to develop certain intestinal bacteria later than those without the condition. What the researchers aren't unblocked on yet is why this would make some infants go on long crying jags after dark for months. The study authors suspect that without the right balance of intestinal flora, the babies may incident more pain and inflammation.

In particular, the study found differences in two types of bacteria. One is proteobacteria. The other is probiotics, which subsume bifidobacteria and lactobacilli. "Already in the first two weeks of life, clear-cut significant differences between both groups were found. Proteobacteria were increased in infants with colic, with a more-than-doubled related abundance.

These included specific species that are known to produce gas," said work author Carolina de Weerth, an associate professor of developmental psychology at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. "On the other hand, bifidobacteria and lactobacilli were increased in lead infants. These included species that would inveigle anti-inflammatory effects. Moreover, samples from infants with colic were found to hold back fewer bacteria related to butyrate-producing species.

Butyrate is known to reduce pain in adults. These microbial signatures mayhap explain the excessive crying". Results of the study appeared online Jan 14, 2013 and in the February woodcut issue of Pediatrics. Colic affects up to 25 percent of infants, De Weerth said. It is defined as crying for an common of more than three hours a day, in a general way between birth and 3 months of age, according to background gen in the study.

Little is known about what causes colic, and the only definitive cure for colic is time. The disproportionate crying usually stops at around 4 months of age, according to the study. "Newborn crying is relatively variable, and between 2 weeks and 8 or 10 weeks you can expect at least an hour of crying in a day. There may be some who turn on the waterworks less; some who cry more.

But, babies with colic really do weep for three to four hours a day," said Dr Michael Hobaugh, chief of medical truncheon at La Rabida Children's Hospital, in Chicago. In the current study, the researchers tested more than 200 fecal samples from 12 infants with colic and 12 infants with sparse levels of crying (the exercise power group). Colic was determined at 6 weeks of age.