Colonics: Are Clean Bowels Healthy Bowels?

Imagine a therapist attaching a rubber hose to a speculum, inserting it in a patient's rectum, and then pumping in as much water as the colon will hold. After a few minutes discomfort, the patient begins to expel the water and whatever else may have been inside his bowels. The patient then is cleaned up, and goes home until his next session with the colon hydrotherapist. Irrigate your way to better health. It sounds like a joke, doesn't it? But many people swear by it and are putting a lot of money where their mouths are, so to speak.

There are a lot of claims being made for the benefits of Colonics. Among the problems it's supposed to alleviate or cure are colitis, ileitis, diverticulitis, toxemia, poor vitamin absorption, acne, eczema, psoriasis, arthritis, cancer, stomach aches, gas, bloating and, of course, constipation. The latter is particularly important because some hydrotherapists claim that constipation is the number one affliction underlying nearly every ailment- that you can be poisoned by the absorption of toxic substances clogging the large intestine.

This theory of "autointoxication" had wide acceptance in the medical world until the early 20th century when scientific experiment and observation proved it wrong. For one thing, the basic underlying assumption of it is wrong. Most of digestion takes place in the small intestine and this is where nutrients are absorbed into the body. What remains enters the colon which absorbs some minerals and water but whose main function is to act as a holding area until waste can be expelled through the rectum. Observation of the colon during surgical procedures and autopsies has shown no evidence for hardened feces or other material accumulating on the intestinal wall. This undercuts one of the main claims for benefit -you can't wash away what isn't there.

Further observation has demonstrated that symptoms of headache, fatigue, etc., that accompany a bowel impaction are caused by the mechanical distension of the colon and not by the absorption of any toxins.

Maybe it can't help, but how can it hurt?

Any invasive medical procedure can be harmful and there is little governmental oversight for this kind of treatment. Operators of colonic irrigation equipment are not required to have a license or go through any training. If the equipment is not properly sterilized between treatments then infection can be transmitted from one patient to another. The treatment can cause severe pain and cramping and cases of bowel perforation and heart failure from excessive absorption of fluid into the blood stream have also been attributed to it.

The FDA has issued many warning letters relating to colon therapy. The National Council Against Health Fraud has warned against it as well. The California Health Department's Infectious Disease Branch states flatly "Colonic irrigation can do no good, only harm." Plenty of other medical and governmental agencies agree.

SOURCES:

The Colon Therapists Network http://colonhealth.net/colon_hydrotherapy/mantell1.htm#

Accelerated Wellness http://www.yin-yang-colonics.com/

Quackwatch http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/gastro.html

The National Council Against Health Fraud http://www.ncahf.org/articles/c-d/colonic.html