A Natural Colic Cure

Colic ranks high on the list of medical mysteries, but a new study out of Italy is helping us creep closer to a potential cure. After noting that colicky babies tend to have a lower amount of probiotics (healthy bacteria) in their digestive systems, researchers treated 90 colicky tots with daily drops of either a probiotic known as L. reuteri or simethicone drops (a standard treatment for gas). The result: A whopping 95 percent of the babies receiving the probiotic had fewer colic symptoms after one week, compared to just 7 percent of the infants on simethicone. While some docs in Italy now use this treatment, it's not yet common in the U.S. Still, L. reuteri is a safe probiotic currently found in many yogurts; with further testing, it and other strains of lactobacillus could become the colic treatment of the future here, too.