Diseases and injuries – Page 75 – watercress words by Dr Aletha

This information is current as of the date of original publication or update. It may have changed by the time you read this. I invite you to fact-check what you read here.

Please do not use this information for diagnosis or treatment purposes. Before making health decisions, discuss with your physician or other qualified healthcare provider.

update November 22, 2025

Another physician blogger, Kristin Prentiss Ott, M.D., asked her physical therapist friend Dr. Carolyn Dolan to write a guest post on her blog. In this post I summarized the information. Unfortunately, neither the post nor the blog are still online. However I found this podcast by Dr. Dolan.

The post offers advice to aid recovery after orthopedic injuries and surgery, but I think you can apply it to any illness, injury, or surgery. As always, you should check with the doctor managing your care before trying anything.

Move often and safely.

Good advice for everyone, injured or not. Many health experts believe that lack of physical activity is as much a health risk as poor diet or even smoking.

Ask for help.

This one is hard for me, as I tend to think I can manage on my own and don’t want to inconvenience someone else. When I fell and broke my foot, I learned to ask for help. And people were happy to do so.

Drinking bone broth.

That’s a new concept for me, although I’ve cooked soups and stews with chicken and beef on the bone, so it’s not really as strange as it sounds at first.

Eat real food.

To me, that means fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains, and moderate amounts of lean meats, poultry and fish.
Limit sugar.
Using healthy oils like olive.
Save the junk food for an occasional “treat” if you really want it.

well balanced meal — Eat a variety of fresh foods every day

Get out in the sun.

This doesn’t mean to lay out for hours getting tanned or burned. But the sun helps our bodies make Vitamin D. Also, natural light can help with mood and sleep regulation.

Get enough rest and sleep.

Too many of us treat sleep like a luxury instead of a necessity. Most chronic tiredness is due to sleep deprivation, not anemia, low thyroid or adrenal fatigue.

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Infantile colic, another medical mystery, baffles parents and doctors. Unlike renal (kidney) colic due to a stone, we don’t know what causes colic in babies. But whatever the cause, it frustrates and tires parents of affected infants.

Colic is defined as “paroxysms of inconsolable crying”. Since there are many reasons babies cry, ranging from wet diapers to hunger to serious illness, doctors have established specific diagnostic criteria for colic, since there is no diagnostic test for it.

Doctors consider the crying diagnostic of colic if it occurs

3 hours per day
More than 3 days per week
Longer than 3 weeks.

Possible causes for colic include

Changes in gut bacteria
Intolerance to cow’s milk protein or lactose
Gut inflammation
Poor feeding technique
Maternal smoking or other nicotine use

The episodes typically resolve by 3 to 6 months of age.No long term consequences result from colic, but parents and babies both need relief from the distress it causes.

Three strategies seem to be most helpful.

For breast fed infants,

Mother can try a low-allergen diet. This means restricting intake of cow’s milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soy and fish.

fried eggs on toast

Another alternative is the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri (strain DSM 17938). Unfortunately in bottle fed babies, this seems to make colic worse.