Probiotics Not Shown to Soothe Babies' Colic, Review Finds | WPN World People News

Although the use of probiotics is growing in popularity among parents hoping to treat infant colic, there is no clear evidence that it helps, Australian researchers report.

Their review of 12 studies on the subject found conflicting results, with some saying the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri is effective in breast-fed infants, but not in those being fed formula.

Probiotics are live bacteria used in foods and supplements and intended to help people with digestive problems, although the jury is still out on their effectiveness.

Infant colic is defined as excessive crying or fussing for no apparent reason. Although the causes of colic are uncertain, one possibility is that it stems from babies having trouble with digestion.

First and foremost, parents need to go to their pediatrician. Most of the time this occurs in infants between 6 weeks to 3 months of age. Most of the time, infant colic is short-term, it disappears, it goes away.

Diagnosing colic is a matter of excluding other conditions and that other factors -- such as whether the child is gaining weight, sleeping and eating well -- need to be taken into account.

For the study, researchers reviewed 12 clinical trials in which a total of 1,825 infants were randomly assigned to receive probiotics, placebos or no treatment. This type of study, called a meta-analysis, tries to find common patterns across several studies. In this case, no common patterns emerged, only conflicting ones.

In all, six trials suggested that probiotics reduced crying and six found they did not. Of five studies focused on managing colic, three said probiotics treated colic in breast-fed babies, one trial suggested probiotics might be effective in formula-fed babies with colic and one found probiotics were ineffective in breast-fed babies with colic. Of the seven prevention studies, only two suggested possible benefits, the researchers found.

They called for larger and better-designed clinical trials to determine whether the probiotic helps manage and prevent colic in healthy infants on varying feeding regimens.

Source: HealthDay News