STORY BY:J. Marc Rhoads, MD, wants to know what all the fuss is about. Literally.
The director of pediatric gastroenterology at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston researches colic, a condition that is punctuated by excessive crying in young infants—and excessive exhaustion in their parents.
“Colic is one of the most common gastrointestinal disturbances in newborns,” Rhoads says. “We need to find a way to relieve their symptoms.”
As many as 30 percent of infants between the ages of 2 weeks and 2 months experience colic, and up to 10 percent have symptoms so severe that parents seek out medical attention.
Colic’s cause is unknown, but its symptoms, as any parent with a colicky baby can attest, are palpable and relentless. A baby with colic may cry more than three hours a day, more than three days per week and for more than three weeks. No amount of parental comforting seems to help, and babies may cry so hard that they have difficulty breathing or swallowing.
Rhoads is leading a clinical trial to examine whether a probiotic–a health-promoting bacteria—has a calming effect on newborns with severe and unexplainable crying who are otherwise healthy. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, which Rhoads says is already proven to improve diarrhea, may control colic.
He believes that colic could be the result of a bacterial imbalance that causes excess hydrogen in the large intestine.
Babies with colic tend to have higher levels of breath hydrogen than babies who aren’t as fussy, Rhoads says. They also have abnormal bacterial DNA patterns in stool samples, according to preliminary tests conducted by Mike Ferris, PhD, a colleague at New Orleans Children’s Hospital.
Rhoads suspects Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG may improve breath hydrogen and re-establish a healthy balance of bacteria in the intestinal tract. “If there are bacteria in the colon that produce too much hydrogen gas, we need to add good bacteria to provide a balance,” Rhoads says.
Probiotics, as defined by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), are "live microorganisms administered in adequate amounts which confer a beneficial health effect on the host." The word itself is a Greek and Latin mix that means "favorable to life."
Recently, probiotics have been back in the medical spotlight, with certain bacterial cultures garnering more of the attention. The popular brand yogurt, Activia, contains a trademarked version of Bifidobacterium lactis. This “friendly” bacterium is supposed to aid in digestion by balancing the natural flora in the gut.
The bacteria that Rhoads is researching is also a live bacteria. According to the National Cancer Institute, it adheres to the intestine’s mucous membrane and may work to even out good and bad intestinal flora and improve the function of the gut.
The word “flora” is simply the totality of all bacteria and fungi that live in the intestines. Healthy flora helps break down nutrients and fights off pathogens—disease-causing microorganisms. It is believed that imbalanced or unhealthy flora may be the cause of many diseases in general and some gastrointestinal ailments, specifically.
Rhoads is recruiting more than 100 babies for the colic study, which the Gerber Foundation is funding. Full-term newborns, 2 weeks to 8 weeks old and cry more than three hours a day are eligible. Participants will receive either the probiotic or a placebo and have breath hydrogen measurements and stool samples taken during the month-long study.
Rhoads says he has prescribed the probiotic to about 10 patients so far, and the results have been positive. He also is encouraged by a recent Italian study showing that a similar probiotic, only available in Europe, benefited 95 percent of colic patients, compared to 7 percent who benefited from simethicone (anti-gas) drops, the standard treatment.
Mothers Heather Kaiser-Hahn and Tamara Barnett-Mimms already are believers in the probiotic treatment. Barnett-Mimms’ baby, Jaden, had colic symptoms so severe that she had to be hospitalized, and Kaiser-Hahn says her son, Alexander, cried so much that she sometimes cried along with him because she was exhausted and didn’t know what else to do.
The two babies, both patients of Rhoads, were given the probiotic as part of their treatment, and the parents reported almost instant improvement.
An effective treatment for colic would mean more comfort for babies, but Rhoads says it could also impact infants’ safety. “One study has shown that mothers of babies with colic had thoughts of infanticide,” Rhoads says. “And it is believed that babies are more likely to be shaken if they cry more than three hours a day and can’t be consoled. A colic treatment could potentially save babies’ lives.”
To participate in the study, call 713-500-6581.
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Dr. J. Marc Rhoads is director of pediatric gastroenterology at the UT Medical School.
Packing Bag Lunches Safely
If you pack lunches for your child to take to school, be careful that you do not accidentally expose them to foodborne illness.
Bagged lunches, especially those containing perishable foods, need to be packed and handled properly in order to keep the food safe. In general, perishable foods should not be left at room temperature for more than two hours. If left out too long, the temperature of the food can enter the danger zone where bacteria grow most rapidly, which is between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
Below are some tips to help families pack bagged lunches safely:
Before eating lunch or snacks at school, make sure your child washes his or her hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. If your child's school does not have a handwashing program in place, encourage them to adopt a such a program, as handwashing is one of the best ways kids and parents can protect health and stop the spread of germs.
