Phytotherapeutics using in child diseases

Herbal drugs and herbal teas are widely used for treatment purposes and supportive therapies for many years thanks to their minimal or no side effects as opposed to synthetic drugs. In this study, infants with colic separated into three groups; one group received fennel tea, the other to chamomile tea and the last group was given preparation A including simethicone to be able to observe the improvements in their conditions.This study was conducted between August 2005 and March 2006 in the Gölbaşı Policlinic Pediatri Section with aged 2 weeks to 4 months, healthy, term, only breast feeding 108 infants with colic.Granulated herbal tea preparations of Milupa® firm contains only fennel or chamomile were given between breast feedings, in 150 ml boiled water that contained one tea-spoon full of these. Preparation A including simethicone was given 2-3 drops per kilogram / weight, 4 times in a day before breast feedings. After the treatments the colic improvement rates that were found are: 66.1% in chamomile tea group, 66.7% in fennel tea group and 66.7% in metsil group. No adverse effect were detected in all three groups. When improvement rates evaluated statistically there is no significant difference were noted among the groups (p>0.05). Affecting one third of newborn babies in the first 3 months of life, infantile colic is described using the ?rule of three?: episodic fussiness and crying of well-fed and otherwise healthy infants for more than three hours per day, for more than three days per week and fore more than three weeks (Wessel?s criteria, 1954).Parents may prefer natural treatments such as herbal treatments when conventional therapies are proved to be inadequate. However, they need to council their physicians before using herbal treatments, just like they do with any other treatment method.Key words: Infantile colic, herbal teas, preparation A including simethicone