I seem to remember a definition that said "Colic is crying that we
don't have any other explanation for."  As we keep finding new
reasons for crying episodes, those babies are removed from the
general "colic pool" (e.g., milk intolerance or allergy, not enough
hind milk, reflux, etc.).  There always remain some for whom we
cannot find another cause, so they are labelled as "colicky".

In a way it reminds me of the differences in how cell structure was
taught when I first took A&P in the 50's and when I took it again in
the 80's.  In the 50's we were told that there was a nucleus,
cytoplasm, a cell wall, and small unidentified things called
"inclusions".  With improved magnification, in the 80's there was a
cell wall,, cytoplasm, Golgi bodies, ribosomes, mitochondria,
centrioles, endoplasmic reticuli, etc. AND-unidentified things
called inclusions!  I expect after another 30 years, in the 2010's,
there will be a longer list of structures but there will still be
inclusions.

I suspect it will continue to be the same with colic.  We will
identify more possible causes of inconsolable infant crying, but
there will always be "colic" as the catch-all for those otherwise
unexplained causes.
Winnie

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