Complementary, holistic, and integrative medicine: colic.

Investigator Award Introduction According to the Wessel criteria, infantile colic is defined as excessive crying for more than 3 hours a day at least 3 days a week for 3 weeks or more in an otherwise healthy baby. (1) As many as 26% of infants are diagnosed with colic, (2) making the condition one of the most common reasons for infant visits to primary care practitioners today. Colic is a self-limiting condition that resolves in approximately 50% of cases at about 3 months of age. (3) Due, in part, to poor understanding of its causes, (2) there is no widely accepted conventional treatment, and families often turn to complementary and alternative medical (CAM) therapies. (4) The largest systematic review to date of treatments for colic found little evidence to support many conventional therapies, while noting that some nutritionaland botanical-based approaches were relatively safe and effective. (5) This review of published scientific literature assesses the efficacy and safety of common CAM therapies in treating infantile colic.