Hindawi Publishing Corporation Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Volume 2012, Article ID 981352, 4 pages doi:10.1155/2012/981352 Research Article Effectiveness of Mentha piperita in the Treatment of Infantile Colic: A Crossover Study Joa˜o Guilherme Bezerra Alves, Rita de C a´ssia Coelho Moraes de Brito, and Telma Samila Cavalcanti Instituto de Medicina Integral Prof. Fernando Figueira (IMIP), Rua dos Coelhos, 301 Boa Vista, 52050-080 Recife, PE, Brazil Correspondence should be addressed to Joa˜o Guilherme Bezerra Alves, joaoguilherme@imip.org.br Received 26 April 2012; Accepted 25 May 2012 Academic Editor: Xiu-Min Li Copyright © 2012 Joa˜o Guilherme Bezerra Alves et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. Infantile colic is a distressing and common condition for which there is no proven standard treatment. Objective. To compare the eﬃcacy of Mentha piperita with simethicone in treatment for infantile colic. Methods. A double-blind crossover study was performed with 30 infants attending IMIP, Recife, Brazil. They were randomized to use Mentha piperita or simethicone in the treatment of infantile colic during 7 days with each drug. Primary outcomes were mother s opinion about responses to the treatment, number of daily episodes of colic, and time spent crying, measured by a chronometer. Mann-Whitney and chi-square tests were used to compare the results. This study was previously approved by the Ethical Committee in Research at IMIP. Results. At baseline daily episodes of infantile colic was 3.9 (±1.1) and the mean crying time per day was 192 minutes (±51.6). At the end of the study daily episodes of colic fell to 1.6 (±0.6) and the crying duration decreased to 111 (±28) minutes. All mothers reported decrease of frequency and duration of the episodes of infantile colic and there were no diﬀerences between responses to Mentha piperita and simethicone. Conclusions. These ﬁndings suggest that Mentha piperita may be used to help control infantile colic. However, these results must be repeated by others studies. 1. Introduction Infantile colic is a common condition in the ﬁrst months of life reaching around 5% to 28% of infants [1]. Usually it appears after the second week of life and disappears around the fourth month of life [2]. It is deﬁned as a crisis of paroxysmal attacks of irritability, restlessness, or crying more than three hours a day, three days a week for more than three weeks in an otherwise well-fed, healthy baby [3]. Etiopathogenesis and better treatment for infantile colic remain unknown [4–6]. Gastrointestinal, psychosocial, and neurodevelopmental disorders have been suggested as the causes of infantile colic [7]. Gastrointestinal disorder has been implicated in colic because of the infant’s grimacing and leg position during a crying spell [2, 8]. Hyperperistalsis, aerophagia, and allergy to cow’s milk have been speculated as gastrointestinal causes [7, 8]. Therefore, various pharmaco- logic agents, herbal products, and chiropractic manipulation have been experimented for this determination [4, 5, 9]. Simethicone is widely used for colic in infants in many countries. This drug is a mixture of polydimethylsiloxanes that reduce the surface tension of air bubbles. Simethicone is relatively safe because it is not absorbed into the blood- stream. It reduces abdominal discomfort by promoting the clearance of excessive gas along the gastrointestinal tract [10]. Mentha piperita is an herbal well known and has been used for a variety of symptoms and diseases [11]. Mentha piperita has a long history of safe use both in medicinal preparations and as a ﬂavoring agent in foods [12]. In folk medicine, it has been used as an antiemetic, antiparasitic, anti-inﬂammatory, antibacterial, and antispasmodic includ- ing treatment for infantile colic [13–15]. Mentha piperita has a spasmolytic eﬀect on the smooth muscle of the gastrointestinal tract [16]. However, no studies had focused on Mentha piperita eﬃcacy and safety in treatment for infantile colic. In a double-blind crossover study, we compare the eﬃcacy of Mentha piperita with simethicone in treatment for infantile colic.