Everything old is new again…
Good news on the natural medicine front: Today’s parents are becoming less likely to turn to over-the-counter remedies when minor health problems surface in their children. Instead, more and more, they’re looking to natural health products to soothe common complaints — particularly abdominal discomforts.
A cover story in Contemporary Pediatrics highlights how parents historically relied on home remedies for help, but then suddenly — and needlessly — switched over to prescription medication to ease their kids’ aches and pains. Now there is a swing back to more holistic help, such as chamomile for upset stomachs. It can also be given in small amounts to treat colic in infants, and when combined with peppermint, star anise, or fennel, it eases stomachaches, gas, indigestion, and bloating.
Other natural treatments are ginger for nausea and dyspepsia and probiotics, found in yogurt, for antibiotic-associated diarrhea, newborn colic, ulcerative colitis, and other forms of diarrhea.
Not only is this move better for the health of today’s children, but it’s also paving the way for a future generation of adults who will hopefully be more open minded to the world of natural medicine.
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What is…colic?
Colic is the term used for harmless gastrointestinal pain in infants, usually occurring in late afternoon or early evening. Colic occurs in both breastfed and formula-fed infants and is accompanied by continual crying, irritability, and general fussiness that lasts for three hours or more at least three times a week. The baby’s distress is relieved only after a bowel movement or gas is passed. Occasionally an episode will end with the baby falling asleep from exhaustion.
Although the cause remains a mystery, some believe that it is a result of a baby’s immature digestive system. Infants usually show signs of colic by three weeks of age and most times the condition eases by three months of age.
Yours in good health,
Amanda Ross
Editorial Director
Nutrition & Healing
