Antibiotics overkill ?

Did you know that American children 10 years and younger are 50% more likely to be treated with oral antibiotics than children of the same age in the United Kingdom? This is a conclusion of the study published by the journal “Pharmacotherapy” in December 2013 following an analysis of 160,000 charts from each country. Another interesting fact discovered was 5 times higher total cost of prescribed antibiotics within the same groups of children in the United States in comparison with the United Kingdom. The study raises a lot of questions. What drives this discrepancy in usage? Parental pressure? Malpractice pressure? Pharmaceutical companies, making exuberant profits in the American market?

The difference is striking.

Sergei Shushunov, MD

Recent research on infant colic

An article published in the NEUROLOGY journal in 2012 points to a link between parental migraine and colic in babies. Parents suffering from migraines were more likely to have babies with colic. Migraine, just like colic is likely triggered by vasoactive substances present in the body in unbalanced quantities. In some adults, migraine manifests in not just a severe headache, but also in abdominal cramping - just what appears to be happening in colic babies. This article indirectly supports the use of vasoactive compounds, such as anethole, a component of fennel seed oil, used to formulate Pediacalm, colic remedy from Lev Laboratories, to treat baby colic.

Sergei Shushunov, MD