Babies spit up and babies cry. Though medical experts consider this normal behavior, studies reveal an escalating percentage of infants are being prescribed reflux medications without the proper diagnostic testing. Medications used to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, are some of the most widely used medications in children less than one year old.
But in a new study, researchers from the University of Michigan and the University of Missouri concluded that physicians often label common symptoms in infants, such as crying and spitting up, as disease. Frequent use of the GERD label can lead to overuse of medication, according to study published today online ahead of print in the journal Pediatrics.
The study found that doctors' use of the label GERD prompted parents to request medication for their baby even when they had been advised that the medication would probably be ineffective.
"As doctors we need to appreciate that the words we use when talking with patients and parents have power -- the power to make a normal process seem like a disease. As pediatricians, our job is to make sick children healthy, not to make healthy children sick," says Tarini, who also is an investigator in U-M's Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit.
In the study, researchers surveyed parents coming into a pediatric clinic in Michigan about how they would respond to a hypothetical clinical scenario describing an infant who cries and spits up excessively but is otherwise healthy. Parents were randomly assigned to receive one of multiple vignettes. In some vignettes, the doctor gave a diagnosis of GERD; in others the doctor did not provide a disease label.
Additionally, half the parents were told that existing medications are probably ineffective; the rest were not given information about medication effectiveness. Parents who received a GERD diagnosis were interested in medicating their infant, even when told that medications were ineffective. Parents not given a disease label were interested in a prescription only when the doctor did not discuss whether the medication was effective.
Over-diagnosis of GERD can make a medical condition out of a normal behavior, says lead author Laura Scherer, assistant professor of psychological science in the College of Arts and Science at the University of Missouri.
"The growing digestive systems of an infant can be finicky and cause the child to regurgitate. The discomfort can cause the infant to cry, but it is not necessarily a disease," says Scherer. "Parents can learn from this study that a disease label can make them want medication for their child, regardless of whether the drugs are effective or not. Parents should follow doctors' advice, which sometimes means accepting a doctor's explanation of why an infant's crying and vomiting may be normal.
"Unnecessary use of medication is costly," says Scherer. "Especially for families without insurance, the over-use of medications can be a needless expense. In addition, the long-term side effects of the medication frequently prescribed to children diagnosed with GERD have not been fully studied, although the medication has been correlated to slightly higher rates of pneumonia."
TJL Enterprises’ infographic reveals the dramatic rise in infant reflux and GERD diagnoses in recent years, as well as the risks and long-term health effects for babies who are taking prescription reflux drugs to treat "colic" and GERD.
“Some pediatricians are growing concerned that the ‘epidemic’ of infant GERD cases is actually due to over-diagnosis, especially since clinical trials show acid blockers work no better than a placebo, and can actually may have short term and long term side effects,” said TJL Enterprises President Jacqueline Lawrence.
“For parents who may be thinking about reflux drugs for their baby, we are hoping to help them to understand the whole picture. This information took months to research and it wasn't widely available,” Lawrence added.
Founded in 2003 by Jacqueline Lawrence, TJL Enterprises’ mission is to create and distribute innovative natural health products of the highest quality, purity, safety and efficacy. Its flagship product, Colic Calm® Gripe Water, was developed by company founder Jacqueline Lawrence in collaboration with a leading homeopathic pharmacist.
Now widely used in the United States and abroad, it is sold in major retail stores as well as natural grocery and health food stores, and online retailers. Colic Calm, the first homeopathic gripe water and the only one on the market that is FDA-regulated, has become the leading natural medicine for treating the related conditions of infant colic, gas and reflux. To date, it has helped more than 500,000 babies around the world.
In May 2012, TJL Enterprises launched Tummy Calm®, the U.S., the first and only homeopathic anti-gas drops for children. TJL Enterprises is a privately held corporation headquartered in Long Beach, Calif. Visit www.ColicCalm.com or www.TummyCalm.com for educational information, user testimonials, store locator tools and more, or call (877)-321-CALM.
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