What Causes Infant Colic?

American scientists discovered that babies suffering from colic have high concentration of specific bacteria in their intestinal microflora. Microbiologists from the University of Texas Health Science Center suggested that colic can be caused by bacterial inflammations triggered by disorders in the intestinal microflora. The study, which was reported by The Daily Telegraph, found that feces of children suffering from colic were discovered to have high concentration of bacteria from the family Klebsiella as well as substances indicating the presence of inflammatory processes in the intestines.

The discovered bacteria can trigger immune responses in the intestines and thus lead to inflammatory diseases such as Crohn’s disease or nonspecific ulcerative colitis. Further studies are needed in order to develop effective treatments of colic with the help of intestinal microflora normalization. More than 70 per cent of children have intestinal colic. The presence of abdominal pain is commonly accompanied by inconsolable crying in babies.

Source of the image: flickr.com/photos/seandreilinger.