We all know there are times that kids seem
to complain {{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}a stomachache to get out
of chores or going to school. Don't be so sure that the pain they {{U}}
{{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}is all in their minds. We're learning more now
about a condition {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}"functional
abdominal pain" that is experienced by millions of kids every day.
Like many teenagers, Kyle Brust makes it a point to do his homework as
{{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}as he gets home. Unlike most, Kyle
often did this with a terrible stomachache. In fact, the {{U}} {{U}}
5 {{/U}} {{/U}}often started while he was at school, but getting help
there was getting harder. "Some of my teachers wouldn't let me
go, because I'd asked so many times before and they thought I was trying to get
out of {{U}} {{U}} 6 {{/U}} {{/U}}," says Kyle.
Kyle's mom Marilyn says she couldn't blame the {{U}} {{U}} 7
{{/U}} {{/U}}. After all, she'd taken him to the doctor several times herself,
and even they couldn't find anything {{U}} {{U}} 8 {{/U}}
{{/U}}. "You know, you're running the tests and nothing's coming
up. So, is it in his head, is he just an extremely stressful child? It's just
frustrating {{U}} {{U}} 9 {{/U}} {{/U}}we're not finding any
answers," says Marilyn. It turns out Kyle was suffering from a
condition known {{U}} {{U}} 10 {{/U}} {{/U}}functional abdominal
pain, that affects as many as one out of every ten kids in this country. Even
{{U}} {{U}} 11 {{/U}} {{/U}}the cause of the pain may not be
obvious, there are real consequences. "It really does hurt, and
these kids really do suffer," says Dr. Campo, MD at Nationwide Children's
Hospital. To help {{U}} {{U}} 12 {{/U}} {{/U}}, Campo is looking
into a new approach. He's conducting clinical trials of an antidepressant that
changes the way the body handles a chemical called serotonin. In a preliminary
study, Dr. Campo found that in about eight out of ten {{U}} {{U}}
13 {{/U}} {{/U}}, the drug normally used to treat emotional pain worked
to ease the pain in the {{U}} {{U}} 14 {{/U}} {{/U}}.
"We think about it as being important in anxiety and depression and
that's all quite true, but what's really interesting is that 95% of our body's
serotonin is in our gut," says Campo. Campo believes these kids
have extremely sensitive intestines, and controlling the effects of serotonin
may {{U}} {{U}} 15 {{/U}} {{/U}}ease the pain. It seemed to work
for Kyle, who is now completely pain free for the first time in years.