Written by Anita Burns
I want to start out by first stating that I am not anti-modern medicine. I have great faith in our modern medical system for most things. If I were to break a bone, or require emergency surgery, I wouldn’t want to stick strictly to herbal medicine. I believe that both systems have a right and good place in healing.
For centuries Europeans and Asians viewed disease as a dysfunction of the whole body, or a whole system. Cures were aimed at bringing the body back into balance so that it could heal itself.
Although traditional thought on disease also included superstition, ignorance of anatomy, and in some places unhealthy beliefs about hygiene, much that was useful about medicine was known and practiced.
In both East and West, disease was often cured with plants that were either proven or intuited to have an effect on a particular system in the body that was injured or unbalanced. In Europe, the "Five Humors" theory was developed. In the near east, the "Three Dosha Ayurvedic" system was the basis of medicine. In the Far East, the "Five Elements" theory was practiced.
Superstition about demons, curses, and in Europe, lack of basic knowledge of hygiene aside, these systems were mostly effective. In the opinion of some alternative health researchers today, they were as effective as modern allopathic method for many diseases.
Not much is known about medical practices of Africa (except for ancient Egypt), and the ancient Americas, but they too, used herbs and plants, along with surgery and other medical techniques.
In the last two centuries, there has been a rise in the “scientific method,” a way of investigating and “proving,” in the Newtonian sense, whether a substance really works as a medicinal or not and in what way.
In the western world, especially North America, allopathic medicine took root and holistic medicine, viewed as old fashioned and unscientific, was pushed more and more into the background. In Europe and Asia, with centuries more behind them of holistic practices, both schools of though and medicine practices are accepted and sometimes integrated. However, in the United States, allopathic medicine has taken hold and has tried—and is still trying—to stamp out any other form of health care.
Allopathic medicine promotes the belief that most disease is caused by a pathogen invading the body and that an anti-pathogen can destroy the invader to heal the body. Although great strides have been made in the cure of many diseases, often the allopathic medicines create side effects almost as disastrous as the disease itself.
With the possible exception of cancer and aids, we are no longer in a disease crisis in the United States as we were when smallpox, polio, fatal influenza, TB, and more were rampant. However, we are in a health crisis. By ignoring the whole body in favor of allopathic specificity, we have swung the pendulum too far to one side.
Health is not just the absence of disease. It is vitality, energy, clear thought, immunity, and strength. How we treat our minds and bodies has an effect on health. We are ultimately responsible for the health and well being of our bodies. However, somewhere along the way, we seemed to have abandoned that belief.
We have adopted a code that says we put the responsibility for health in the hands of a select few who have legal and actual power over our life and death. Unfortunately, even Medical Doctors (MDs) have been caught in their own trap. For an MD to recommend any form of holistic medicine—acupressure, chiropractic, herbs, homeopathies, and such, is often to risk their reputation and their future as licensed doctors that they worked so long and hard to achieve.
The public has made this worse by relinquishing any responsibility for their own care and well being. If a doctor recommends herbs or another form of card and the patient isn’t cured, he/she can sue the doctor. Doctors live in constant dread of malpractice lawsuits, which is one factor in the high cost of malpractice insurance that runs up the cost of medical care.
Granted, there are tons of MDs who are so incompetent that they deserve the lawsuits but many are simply doing what they can in an atmosphere of a sue-happy public. They trap works both ways. Laws in the United States often take away our right to choose health care and force us into the form of health care that has gained the most power through government lobbying and economic considerations. This led to a massive public outcry in 1993 that resulted in some concessions by the government to allow more freedom of choice where over the counter herbs are concerned. Nevertheless, it really did very little to open the field in an equitable way.
An herbalist in the United States cannot legally diagnose nor prescribe an herb for anything, even as simple as white willow bark for a headache. Nor can an herbalist suggest that you take an aspirin.
Herbalism is a system that takes into account pathogens, whole body balance, body chemistry, tradition, and scientific proof of the herb’s effectiveness in treating disease. In many places in Europe, herbalism is an accepted health care choice, as is naturopathy, homeopathy, and aromatherapy. In the United States, the FDA is gaining more and more power to tell us what we need to do for our well being, and what we can’t do.
Originally, health regulation was intended to protect us from charlatans pushing “snake oil cures” and bogus cancer cures. But, when economics entered the picture, Pandora’s box was opened. In 1993, the spark that flamed the public outcry was a proposed regulation that would require all herbs and vitamins to be dispensed only through prescription by licensed physicians. It would have made it a crime to take vitamin C or by garlic capsules without a prescription from a doctor. The prices for herbs and vitamins would probably have soared and we would have been cut off from one more avenue of health care.
Even with the current trend in insurance companies covering or offering discounted alternative health care services, we must not relax. WE must take back our right to have dominion over our own bodies and have the right to choose our health care. If regulation of herbs comes in the way, the FDA has made it clear it wants it to, herbal companies will be forced to spend millions of dollars in testing for each herb before the FDA would approve their use as a medicinal. Previous testings or centuries of proven efficacy in use would not be accepted.
Herbal companies would then have to recoup their expenditures by increasing their prices. Imagine spending $80 for a bottle of Milk Thistle tincture instead of $5-$12. In addition, many useful herbs would simply disappear because they are too easy to obtain cheaply in the wild (like milk thistle) or can be homegrown. Herbal companies couldn’t risk not recouping their losses and would likely drop them from their inventory.
Herbalism has a long history. We don’t know when humans first decided and discovered that some plants did more than nourish the body by feeding the belly. Perhaps it was by watching what some animals did when feeling ill, or by “divine intervention.” We don’t know.
However, as far back as we have written evidence of medical practices, we have reports of herbs and plants successfully used as medicine. Garlic may be the oldest known medicinal plant. Garlic cloves have been found in caves inhabited 10,000 years ago. A prescription for garlic was found on a Sumerian clay tablet from 3000 B.C. Chinese doctors mentioned Cinnamon as a medicinal as far back as 2700 B.C. Since then, there has been a lot of scientific testing on herbs including testing by the United States government.
Herbalism works closely with the body’s own immune system. You may be surprised to learn that the American Medical Association (AMA) has only recently recognized the body’s immune system at al in relation to health. It has also come as a recent surprise to the AMA that nutrition, exercise, and mental/emotional attitudes affect health.
Preventing ill health and disease has been a longstanding tradition among holistic health practices but has arrived as a new and innovative—if somewhat suspicious—concept to modern U.S. allopathic physicians.
It is finally coming to light (again) that we can only defeat illness by paying more attention to health and less attention to treating disease. However, there is also a trend for some MDs and some lay people to want herbs to act as a lateral substitute for allopathic medicines—to treat pathogens and ignore the rest of health. In other words, they are trying to pound a square peg into a round hole.
With herbs, the whole system must be taken into account and they generally do not work quickly and miraculously to erase symptoms as do many allopathic medicines. Most herbs work more slowly, and in combination with other herbs, to help the body regain health on its own. Sometimes this comes quickly, sometimes slowly, but true health is regained, not just a suppression of symptoms without examining lifestyle and emotional causative factors.
In a “natural supplement” retail where I once worked, we had customers who made the same mistake. They would come in and ask me “What do you have for energy?” They may work 14 hours a day, take care of a family and spouse, sleep four hours a night, eat mostly caffeine, fat, and sugar but they wan the magical pill that will eliminate fatigue. A suggestion of seeing a physician for a check up, proper diet, and rest as a possible relief from fatigue would be rejected and they would buy a bottle of Guarana. Guarana a natural source for strong caffeine. It can be useful for a burst of energy but if proper rest and nutrition are ignored, the body can be depleted even further possibly resulting in more serious health problems.
Herbs are not drugs. However, by their complex structures, medicinal foods (herbs) create many of the same benefits as drugs—mostly without unpleasant side effects.
For example, in a Nutrilite press release dated January 7, 2000, researchers conducted a six-month study of lutein. In the study, “blood levels of lutein increased by 28% in 21 participants, closely matching levels found in individuals who consume lutein-rich diets incorporating yellow and green fruits and vegetables. The rise was small but still significant. Researchers believe this may lower the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a condition that affects roughly 1.7 million people over the age of 65.”
There have been numerous studies on garlic’s power to lower cholesterol in contrast to prescription drugs such as cholestyramine. Garlic has been proven to lower cholesterol and any herbalist worth his/her salt would combine garlic with other supporting herbs for a cholesterol lowering formula. But because cholestyramine is economically a money maker and garlic is not, pharmaceutical companies are not going to recommend that doctors prescribe garlic. Doctors who do—assuming they are aware of garlic’s ability in that area—risk ridicule and expulsion from membership in professional organizations such as the AMA.
How to get proof that herbs work as they are reputed to work and how to separate unfounded folklore and placebo from actual medicinal uses of plants is a problem. However, it is less so thanks to the open mindedness of many new researchers in the world. Studies done in France, Germany, China, England, and more abound. Much folklore about herbs has proven true, but much as also been discovered to be false. For example, boneset—eupatorium perfolatum—may sound like an herb to heal bones and some folklore prescribes it for that but it’s name comes from a traditional use as a cure for breakbone fever. It has proven to be useful in treating minor viral and bacterial infections by stimulating the white blood cells into action.
Folklore prescribes juniper for sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea. However, scientific testing shows it to be ineffective. Juniper does act as a diuretic and is included in an over-the-counter PMS medicine. It is effective as a part of an overall treatment for high blood pressure and congestive heart failure. High doses, over a long period of time can irritate the kidneys.
Be cautious of herbal books that do not take modern findings about the nature and action of herbs into account. Some recommended authors are Michael Castleman, Daniel B. Bowrey, Leslie & Michael Tierra, and David Hoffman.
Keep in mind that you are ultimately responsible for your health. No herb will make you healthy as long as you engage in unhealthy lifestyle habits such as eating a diet containing mostly foods devoid of proper nutrition, smoking, lack of exercise, and emotional stress. Herbs counteract pathogens and help your body heal itself but are not an excuse to engage in a disastrous, indulgent lifestyle.
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Showing posts with label healing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healing. Show all posts
Saturday, December 11, 2010
MEDICAL JOURNALIST REPORT OF INNOVATIVE BIOLOGICS VALUE OF COLON HYDROTHERAPY VERIFIED BY MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS PRESCRIBING IT
MEDICAL JOURNALIST REPORT OF INNOVATIVE BIOLOGICS VALUE OF COLON HYDROTHERAPY VERIFIED BY MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS PRESCRIBING IT
by Morton Walker, DPM
© Copyright 2000 by Dr. Morton Walker
From the signal stage of history surrounding ancient Egypt, practices of colon hydrotherapy in their most basic form – enemas or clysters – have provided people with internal cleansings adjunctive to their personal external hygiene. The Ebers Papyrus, from the 14th century BC prescribes internal cleansing for no less than twenty stomach and intestinal complaints.1 But in the modern era it fell to J. H. Kellogg, MD, of Battle Creek, Michigan, famous for his invention of corn flakes and various techniques of good hygiene, to popularize colon hydrotherapy. This happened from Dr. Kellogg’s
publication of his article in the Journal of the American Medical Association praising the procedure’s efficacy for saving a dysfunctional large bowel.2 That descriptive article was the impetus for advancement of a highly beneficial therapeutic method which has since flourished and found ecognition among enlightened health professionals in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and North America. Enthusiastic expressions of approval for colon hydrotherapy are undeniable medical endorsements for this significant complementary treatment which removes metabolic waste from a person’s large bowel without applying toxic agents of any kind.
Board Certified Gastrointestinal Surgeon Dr. Leonard
Smith Endorses Colon Hydrotherapy
Thirty years ago, Leonard Smith, MD, of Gainsville,
Florida graduated from medical school and eventually
became board certified in general surgery by the American
College of Surgery. For more than twenty-five years Dr. Smith
has practiced as a specialist in gastrointestinal surgery. He
has dealt with all types of colon difficulties, including
operations for overcoming colon cancer, colon diverticulitis,
appendicitis, hemorrhoids, and numbers of other internal
organ health problems.
“l am very well acquainted with the colon’s
functions, and my true belief is that colon hydrotherapy is
the perfect cleansing medium for preparing the patient for
colonoscopy. It’s a much better way of getting the human
colon ready for an operation than having a patient swallow a
gallon of that usual presurgery solution known as ‘Colon-
Go-Lytely.’ Instead, colon hydrotherapy has the patient avoid
this solution’s noxious side effects of vomiting, diarrhea,
abdominal cramping, and other troubles,” Dr. Smith says.
“Moreover, seriously ill patients tend to be
chronically constipated which results in generalized toxemia.
It turns out that colon hydrotherapy is the gentlest and most
effective treatment to take care of a sick person’s constipation
problem. My recommendation for cancer patients is that they
should undergo frequent colon hydrotherapy procedures to
make sure a colon’s toxic burden is being kept at a minimum
while their bodies are trying to heal,” affirms Dr. Smith.
“While not a substitute for eating a high fiber diet, those
cancer patients who take colon hydrotherapy often experience
the elimination of their aches and pains, improvement of
appetite, and they tolerate a tough healing process better.
“I also believe that normally healthy people will find
it valuable to take colon hydrotherapy every couple of months
in order to experience how well one feels when the colon is
truly empty. It’s a fact that most people fail to fully evacuate
the colon, something they don’t realize. People undergoing
colon hydrotherapy on a prevention basis, become quite
surprised at how much waste is removed by the procedure,”
Dr. Smith says.
“Without any reservation, I declare that my wish is
to see it become an established procedure for may kinds of
gastrointestinal problems. If medical centers, hospitals, and
clinics installed colon hydrotherapy departments, they would
find such departments just as efficacious for patients as their
present treatment areas which are devoted to physiotherapy,”
states Leonard Smith, MD “Such is my true belief, and I
do endorse this therapeutic program.”
Reprinted with Permission from the Townsend Letter for Doctors
August / September 2000 (#205/206)
2 Reprinted with permission by MIND BODY Naturopathic Institute- 6 pages
Colon Hydrotherapy Corrects Constipation
“One of my more significant cases was Tommy, an
eight-year-old boy with the most awful constipation anyone
could imagine,” says former general surgeon and emergency
medicine specialist Paul Flashner, MD, of Wellesley,
Massachusetts. Observing their superior results for his
patients, Dr. Flashner has more recently adapted his treatment
techniques almost completely to complementary and
alternative medicine (CAM). Most definitely, he has
incorporated colon hydrotherapy as a regular CAM technique.
“Tommy’s constipation was really bad. He never had
a bowel movement for a week at a time. Recognizing the
dangers of physiological toxicity, his parents took their son
for consultation with numerous gastroenterologists. The child
had been subjected to colonoscopy a dozen times, but nothing
could be found as the source of his blockage. Laxatives hardly
helped at all. There was no diagnosis except that he suffered
severely from constipation,” confirms Dr. Flashner. “Then
the parents found their way to me so that the boy might
undergo examination and treatment one more time. They
described their eight-year-old’s condition.
“I improved the child’s diet and removed all junk
foods. Then I instigated an exercise program, had him drink
lots of water, balanced his colonic flora, and added fiber food
supplements. But most vital for Tommy’s welfare is that he
took colon hydrotherapy under my prescription. The
beneficial effect was dramatic, for within six months he was
experiencing a natural and normal bowel movement every
day. No laxatives were involved in his progress,” states Dr.
Flashner. “Now the child does not need to consult me
anymore; still, he continues his colonic cleansing by having
colon hydrotherapy. He did this once a month for six months,
and currently he undergoes the cleansing just four times a
year. It’s been two years that Tommy remains in excellent
physical condition.
“Colon hydrotherapy is the perfect specific
procedure to eliminate constipation and restore normal
bowel function. My approach to medical practice is to
balance the GI tract using stool testing. I find various
pathologies relating to bacteria, yeast, parasites, and other
organisms of this nature. A lot of disease comes from
imbalances in the colon, as manifested by inflammatory
bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, autoimmune diseases,
allergies, multiple sclerosis, and certainly constipation. Such
imbalances can be corrected by means of colon hydrotherapy,
herbal supplements, and diet,” says Dr. Paul Flashner. “There
is no question about the huge difference a health professional
can bring to the patient by utilizing colon hydrotherapy plus
other associated complementary and alternative methods of
healing.”
Giving Colon Hydrotherapy Is Standard Procedure
for Sharda Sharma, MD
Located in Millburn, New Jersey as a primary care
physician for nearly twenty-six years, Sharda Sharma, MD,
dispenses medical care of a multi-disciplinary nature to her
patients. Dr. Sharma employs colon hydrotherapy, chelation
therapy, massage therapy, acupuncture, Reiki manipulative
therapy, and much more. She treats the body as a whole
(holistically).
“I have trained and certified colon hydrotherapists
working as part of my staff. Under my supervision for the
past year-and-a-half they have been rendering care for
constipation, abdominal cramps, allergies, and a variety of
other conditions, including ten patients with hepatitis C.
These hepatitis patients respond to colon hydrotherapy and
do well,” assures Dr. Sharma. “For instance, Mrs. Felicia, a
forty-two-year-old high school teacher, had suffered with
constipation-no bowel movements for six days at a stretch.
She was bloated, fatigued, lethargic, headachy, and crampy.
My treatment choice for her was enzyme supplements and
colon hydrotherapy twice weekly for thirteen weeks. These
treatments solved the constipation problem for Mrs. Felicia.
She goes to the toilet as desired without having to sit there
for long periods waiting, reading, meditating, or undergoing
other mental or physical diversions.
“Colon hydrotherapy is excellent as a treatment
for the yeast syndrome. A very anxious fifty-year-old female,
Mrs. Sara Audrey, consulted me because she was running to
the toilet every two hours with either diarrhea or with
attempting to find comfort from constipation. It turns out
that she had irritable bowel syndrome complicated by
candidiasis. During the administration of colon hydrotherapy,
I observed that Mrs. Audrey was loaded with Candida
albicans. I recognized the white yeast organisms floating
through the transparent tube of my colon flushing device,”
says Dr. Sharma. “But the patient is now in fine shape-much
relieved. She has good bowel movements twice daily with
no gas. This is typical of almost all patients undergoing colon
hydrotherapy.”
Dr. Michael Gerber Uses Colon Hydrotherapy Routinely
“I’ve had a colon hydrotherapy device in my office
for twenty-five years,” states Michael Gerber, MD, of Reno,
Nevada. “My present staff person who dispenses colon
hydrotherapy under my jurisdiction uses it for all types of
patient difficulties. The basic concepts of the science has not
changed much in the last twenty-five years; however, the
colon hydrotherapy equipment has improved immensely.
How the equipment works so effectively is nothing short of
astounding. Registered with the FDA, current colon
hydrotherapy equipment is safe. It contains temperaturecontrolled
water mixing and back flow prevention valves,
plus pressure and temperature sensors, and built-in
chemical sanitizing units. Water purification units
frequently are installed as well. Disposable single-use
rectal tubes, and/or speculae are employed routinely for
sterility.
“Undergoing a session of colon hydrotherapy has
you experiencing comfort and cleansing with no toxicity.
Techniques utilized allow a small amount of water to flow
into the colon gently stimulating the colon’s natural peristaltic
action to release softened waste,” Dr. Gerber advises. “The
inflow of a small amount of water and the release of waste
may be repeated again and again. The removal of such waste
encourages better colon function and elimination.
“During the treatment, most clothing can continue
to be worn. In addition the patient is draped, or a gown is
worn to ensure modesty. The patient’s dignity is always
maintained,” Dr. Michael Gerber affirms. “The benefits of
colon hydrotherapy extend all the way from psychiatric
improvement to constipation elimination.”
3 Reprinted with permission by MIND BODY Naturopathic Institute- 6 pages
Colon Hydrotherapy Reduces Benign Prostatic
Hyperplasia
Joshua Heinermann, the sixty-six-year-old chief
executive officer for Virginia Chemicals Corporation of
Chesapeake, Virginia, had been suffering severely from
prostate gland enlargement (benign prostatic hyperplasia or
BPH). For four years the man’s symptoms had been building
steadily, and now they were affecting his ability to manage
in the administrative position he held. The executive’s nighttime
urinary urgency (nocturia) came with such frequency,
Mr. Heinermann found himself perpetually fatigued during
daytime business meetings. His need to sleep lay on him
like a blanket, and he felt as if his mind was encased in cotton
batting. Any capability for him to make vital decisions on
behalf of his corporation became almost nonexistant. To
confront the problem, the CEO finally consulted a urologist
located in his city.
In practice for over sixty years as a specialist in
solving urological problems for both men and women, Emil
S. Sayegh, MD, of Chesapeake, Virginia is eighty-eight years
of age. Over the six decades of his medical practice, Dr.
Sayegh has been consulted by a particularly large number of
male clientele who have sought his help in correcting BPH
and prostatitis.
“These two common medical difficulties are closely
associated with having weak abdominal muscles,” explains
the board certified urologist. “Those men possessing flaccid
and weak abdominal muscles experience enormous pressures
on their bladders which never let up. The supportive muscles
and other erectile tissues surrounding the bladder fail to do
the jobs required. The pressure of the bladder’s rectal sigmoid
is so severe that any amount of stool in that area is going to
make urine passage very difficult. Whether urine is present
or not, the need for these men to void becomes
overwhelming.”
During the past fifteen years Dr. Sayegh has made
use of colon hydrotherapy which solves his patients’ two
particular prostate pathologies almost every time. “Cleaning
the colon markedly assists the functioning of the pathological
male bladder and prostate organs. Colon hydrotherapy given
to involved men at two-week intervals for three times to start
and then maintained every four weeks for an unlimited period
does solve prostatitis and benign prostatic hyperplasia,” states
Emil S. Sayegh, MD. “From my files, I can offer up several
hundred case studies which testify to that fact.”
Cancer Patients Improve from Receiving Colon
Treatment
“I have found over the years that cancer patients who
are not doing well usually are toxic and not being cleansed.
They certainly are in need of colon hydrotherapy,” advises
oncologist and homeopath Douglas Brodie, MD, of Reno,
Nevada. Dr. Brodie has developed CAM methods for treating
cancer and other degenerative diseases aimed at strengthening
the immune system. He emphasizes natural and humane
approaches to these conditions with colon hydrotherapy being
among them.
“I do recommend that most of my cancer patients
take colon hydrotherapy or ‘colonic irrigations’ because they
often improve by having such treatment. Liver cancer in
particular shows benefit from colon hydrotherapy, but any
internal tumors show effectual change too,” Dr. Brodie says.
“It’s better than an enema, which is merely a lower bowel
cleanse, as opposed to a colonic which is a thorough cleanse
of the entire bowel. It’s similar to comparing the diagnostic
efficacy of a sigmoidoscopy of the short end of the bowel to
a colonoscopy which takes in the whole bowel. An enema
only goes so far. Colon hydrotherapy is the best cleansing
and detoxifier for the gastrointestinal tract that anybody
would want. I do promote its use.”
Conditions for Which Colon Hydrotherapy Is Effective
Maintaining a rheumatology practice for the past
twenty-four years in Long Branch, New Jersey, Arthur E.
Brawer, MD, is an enthusiastic exponent of colon
hydrotherapy for a variety of health problems. He cites this
treatment in his recently published consumer book, Holistic
Harmony.
“Silicone breast implant exposure which results in
disease symptoms responds very well to colon hydrotherapy.
I am in the center of this silicone breast implant controversy
by having consulted with over 500 women from around the
world for the toxic environmental exposure caused by such
implantation. I’ve given testimony as an expert witness before
the United States Congress on this issue along with advising
the Department of Health and Human Services, the FDA,
and consultants to the President, the Vice-president, the
Director of Women’s Health at the White House, and the
United Nations. I use colon hydrotherapy for the treatment
of such silicone toxicity, since it does work to chelate silicone
out of the body,” states Dr. Brawer. “Let me explain!
“From day one of implantation, silicone
micromolecules disperse throughout the body because the
pore size (the porosity) of the envelope or shell enclosing
the implant is larger than most of the silicone molecules
contained inside. Thus, the disease symptoms derived from
silicone toxicity is not dependent on envelope rupture.
Symptoms begin immediately! In other words, the molecules
of silicone travel through the membrane osmotically and
become microdispersed throughout the body by means of
the lymphatic system,” explains Dr. Brawer.
“Now realize that the connective tissue or collagen
in each person’s body requires silicone as an essential
component in order to provide the body with proper
architectural structure such as for tendons, ligaments, nerve
sheaths, and everything else. Silicone makes up the glue
which holds the skin together, gives substance to the organs,
act as regulators, signal transmitters, and so forth. It functions
as an integral part of metabolism and physiology. Thus, all
tissues are dependent on silicone as an essential ingredient,”
Dr. Brawer says. “But given in excess as a leaking silicone
breast implant, there is only one place the excess may be
dumped or stored by the body-into its connective tissue. When
that happens a whole litany of complaints occur: joint pains,
dry eyes, fatigue, memory lapses, skin rashes and
pigmentations, chest pain, muscle aches, drug intolerance,
odor and smell sensitivity to hair sprays, room fresheners,
deodorants, and more (see sidebar).
“So the silicone molecules become stuck in the
body’s glue, and they cannot be removed by use of
4 Reprinted with permission by MIND BODY Naturopathic Institute- 6 pages
medications or supplemental nutrients or diet. Only certain
techniques may be applied to detoxify the body: colon
hydrotherapy is perhaps the best way and also working as
detoxifiers are Ayurvedic medicine, hyperthermia, steam
baths, saunas, oxygen therapy, and the energy-based therapies
such as Reiki therapy and Qigong. Any dietary approach has
to be more an exclusionary basis – take the patient off of
processed foods and have them eat organic,” confirms Dr.
Brawer. “But of all the treatments for symptoms coming from
silicone breast implants, colon hydrotherapy I find to be one
of the mainstays that offer relief.”
Colon Hydrotherapy Is Like Cleaning Baked Lasagna
from a Pan
According to Pamela Whitney, ND, baked lasagna
may be used as a metaphor for colon cleansing. Dr. Whitney,
educational director for the New England Health Institute, is
a naturopathic physician who practices her profession in two
locations, Braintree, Massachusetts and Stowe, Vermont.
Here is how she describes the physical action of colon
hydrotherapy:
“If ever you’ve baked a lasagna and then attempted
to sanitize the messy, left-over lasagna pan, you know the
difficulty with getting it clean. For sponging such a foodcaked
pan it’s usual for cooks to soak the pan overnight. Then
they find that swabbing it the next day is easy. Colon
hydrotherapy accomplishes the same ease of cleansing on
the inside of one’s bowel. Using hydrotherapy, the colon’s
walls constantly get flushed with clear fluid, which serves to
remove mucous plus some of their longstanding, caked-on
fecal matter which contains hidden bacteria, parasites,
Candida albicans-filled pockets, and other such pathological
materials.”
From its home office located in San Antonio, Texas,
literature furnished by the International Association for Colon
Hydrotherapy or I-ACT (see the Resource section) defines
colon hydrotherapy as a
safe, effective method of
removing waste from the
large intestine, without the
use of drugs. By
introducing pure, filtered
and temperature-regulated
water into the colon, the
human waste is softened
and loosened, resulting in
evacuation through natural
peristalsis. This flushing
process usually is repeated
a few times during a
therapeutic session.
Colon hydrotherapy
is best used in combination
with adequate nutrient and
fluid intake as well as with
exercise. The modern and
sophisticated technology
applied today,
manufactured through
compliance with strict FDA
guidelines, promotes both safety and sanitation of the
procedure.
Dr. Pamela Whitney advises that her healing program
for almost any condition frequently involves prescribing colon
hydrotherapy. “I almost always refer my patient to undertake
colon cleansing as the first part of my treatment. I do this for
purposes of detoxification, since most people possess toxic
bowels which may result in either constipation or diarrheaboth
coming from the same sources of toxicity,” she says.
“The patients’ toxins tend to kick back to their blood streams
to perpetuate numerous pathologies such as candidiasis,
allergies, chronic fatigue, and other symptoms coming from
a recirculation of accumulated physiological poisons.
“I use the services of at least three skilled colon
hydrotherapists who practice near to my two offices. I don’t
know of any patient receiving colon hydrotherapy who has
not benefited from it. Certainly the treatment will get a
sluggish bowel refunctioning again. In my judgment, the
action of just one colon hydrotherapy is an experience
equivalent to someone undergoing twenty coffee enemas,”
says Dr. Whitney. “What we eat, the processed foods such as
breads, pastas, sugars, and refined deserts hit the
gastrointestinal tract like a glue which becomes nearly
indigestible. A prime source of allergies to wheat and other
flour products is this flour made into a kind of mucilage by
being mixed with saliva. This glue-like substance sticks on
the walls of one’s GI tract to slow down the individual’s
metabolic rate. Thereafter, constipation with inflammation
can develop, but colon hydrotherapy solves such a problem.”
As is obvious, Dr. Pamela Whitney is a great advocate
of colon hydrotherapy, which she prescribes as a standard
part of her treatment.
A Gastroenterologist Prescribes Colon Hydrotherapy
Board certified as a gastroenterologist from 1972,
Robert Charm, MD, of Walnut Creek, California, a clinical
professor of medicine at the University of California,
Conditions Responding to Colon Hydrotherapy
Cited by Rheumatologist Arthur E. Brawer, MD
“Colon hydrotherapy eliminates from the bowel the repository of accumulated
waste material which may disadvantageously get absorbed. If this absorption takes place,
it overwhelms the other purification organs such as the liver, the kidneys, the skin, and
the lungs. The toxin deposition which becomes lodged throughout the body’s tissues
and cells becomes capable of triggering a variety of illnesses,” says rheumatologist Dr.
Arthur E. Brawer. “There’s lots of them. Some disease indications for colon hydrotherapy
responding well are:
Allergies Arthritis Asthma
Acne Attention Deficit Disorder
Memory Lapses Hypertension Body Odor
Brittle Hair Brittle Nails Chronic Fatigue
Cold Hands & Feet Colitis Spastic Colon
Constipation Fibromyalgia Headaches
Irritable Bowel Mouth Sores Multiple Sclerosis
Nausea Peripheral Neuropathies Peptic Ulcer
Pot Belly Poor Posture Seizures
Muscle Pain Joint Aches Chest Pain
Skin Rashes Toxic Environmental Exposure
Pigmentation Toxic Occupational Exposure
5 Reprinted with permission by MIND BODY Naturopathic Institute- 6 pages
combines conventional allopathic medicine with CAM in his
practice. He also continues to make house calls.
“I prescribe colon hydrotherapy by calling upon a
superbly trained practitioner of the art in the San Francisco
Bay area. She is certified by I-ACT. Also, I’m very impressed
by the sophisticated technology as illustrated by the colon
hydrotherapy equipment. From my observation, it’s
engineered quite well,” affirms the gastroenterologist.
“Frequently while performing colonoscopy, I see that
the patient is cleaned out from above but below the
diverticular still contain fecaliths, those small turds remaining
in pockets formed on the gut mucosa. They indicate the
presence of an unhealthy colon, and over 50 percent of
Americans possess diverticulosis colae. When inflamed,
gastroenterologists called them diverticulitis colae, which can
be serious by creating fistulas. Some people then will poop
through their bladders. Some women actually poop through
the vagina,” Dr. Charm says. “With patients for whom I
perform colonoscopy, about one third of them over the age
of fifty who are otherwise cleaned above, still show residual
stools sitting in these gut mucosa pockets. Some have held
onto the stool pockets for decades. A toxic dumpsite like this
is dangerous for them by the elevated concentration of poisons
stored in the dumpsite. Environmental cancer can develop!
“A good cleanout by use of colon hydrotherapy is
excellent treatment. Surely I recommend that people
undertake colon hydrotherapy for themselves. Clean out the
body’s pipes,” Dr. Robert Charm suggests. “And by all means,
I prefer my patients to undergo colon hydrotherapy the
morning of a colonoscopy. It’s a safe way to cleanse the gut.
It’s a healing technique for the relief of irritable bowel
syndrome with gas and bloating, chronic constipation,
abdominal discomfort, and many other GI tract problems.
“My patient, Fran Wilson, a former model, now age
forty-one, the mother of two, was just too busy to go to the
bathroom. She didn’t celebrate having a good bowel
movement, which is the thinking in our society. For her,
defecation was an annoyance. Fran labored under the
mistaken illusion that pooping every three days was normal,
and she came to me complaining of feeling logy, fatigued,
bloated and abdominally cramped. None of the various drug
laxatives had been doing the job for her,” explains Dr. Charm.
“Rather, these drug-like laxatives were depleting Fran of her
potassium. The psyllium seed, fiber, and other natural agents
did not work either. Therefore I recommended that she
undertake a series of colon hydrotherapies and the drinking
of more water. This cleared up her discomforts remarkably
fast despite her lifetime of bad habits.
“The lesson to learn is that when one gets the urge
to move, you must do so. Being too busy in our society to
give into the need to defecate is wrong. Find a way,” advises
Dr. Robert Charm. “Some people don’t poop enough! Let’s
get people thinking about eating and pooping. If these don’t
occur together, colon hydrotherapy should be employed.”
Frank Shallenberger, MD, Supports Colon Hydrotherapy
Usage
Frank Shallenberger, MD HMD, of Carson City,
Nevada, declares: “I support the use of colon hydrotherapy
and do occasionally refer my patients to undertake this
treatment. It may be the best way to detoxify them.”
Christopher J. Hussar, DO, DDS, Took Colon
Hydrotherapy
From his medical/surgical practice in Reno, Nevada,
osteopathic physician and dental cavitation specialist
Christopher J. Hussar, DO, DD., does offer the following
personal statement, “I have enjoyed two colon
hydrotherapeutic treatments when, at the time, I was
experiencing partial bowel obstruction. Each colon
hydrotherapy had me feeling better. It’s my belief that this
treatment should be recommended for any person who is
having chronic constipation. Then, the local colon
hydrotherapist can become a main factor in keeping that
individual comfortable. I maintain that one should do
whatever it takes to keep up with regular bowel movements.
Colon hydrotherapy is a safe and natural laxative which works
better than any other type.
“In Reno, I refer my patients who are in need of
bowel cleansing to a colon hydrotherapist. The only reason
that I don’t refer people on a regular basis is because most of
them arrive to see me from out of town. Therefore, I tell
them to use the services of a skilled colon hydrotherapist
located in their area so that they can go for treatment often,”
says Dr. Christopher J. Hussar.
Colon Hydrotherapy Is Usual for the Patients of W. John
Diamond, MD
For W. John Diamond, MD, medical director of the
Triad Medical Center in Reno, Nevada and coauthor of that
useful consumer text, An Alternative Medicine Definitive
Guide to Cancer, colon hydrotherapy or high colonic
irrigations are usual modalities for which he refers his
patients. “For some patients with chronic constipation or
extensive yeast problems, colon hydrotherapy works
advantageously to get rid of the physical load of pathology
in the gastrointestinal tract. This treatment stimulates the
liver and gets rid of the debris that’s sticking to the mucosa.
The last time I referred my patient to take colon hydrotherapy
was just yesterday. There’s hardly a week that goes by which
does not see me utilize this fabulous treatment for one or
more patients. The colon hydrotherapist in this city of Reno
is skilled and does a fine job.
“Let me describe a particular patient of mine, Mrs.
Constance Overmacher, who benefited from colon
hydrotherapy,” says Dr. Diamond. “This woman at age fortysix
has a long history of antibiotic usage for chronic sinusitis.
She is a sugarholic to the extent that her food is totally
carbohydrates with hardly any protein or fat. She exhibits a
variety of symptoms including extreme fatigue, migraine
headaches, irregular menses, chronic constipation, abdominal
pain, and yeast growing in the bowel upon testing by EAV
[electroacupuncture according to Voll]. Presence of the yeast
was confirmed by stool culture and blood tests for yeast
antibodies and skin testing.
“For such a complicated case, I tried every kind of
treatment that was appropriate, but nothing did any good.
The only program that gave Mrs. Overmacher relief was colon
hydrotherapy prescribed for her to receive three times a week.
It took me a month to get my patient stable, but finally the
treatment’s effect kicked in. The lady did get her bowel
6 Reprinted with permission by MIND BODY Naturopathic Institute- 6 pages
cleaned up; she’s now experiencing normal stools and I have
her following a restrictive protein diet. Her energy is returned,
and she has been showing normal menses for the last two
months. Her migraines disappeared,” Dr. John Diamond
affirms. “It merely meant that I needed to get the woman
back to normal bowel function, off antibiotics, and onto
probiotics all the time. Now she takes colon hydrotherapy
on a regular once-a-month schedule. Mrs. Overmacher will
likely be forced to stay on her therapeutic program
continuously.”
Janet Beaty, N.D., Took Training in Colon Hydrotherapy
“My original training in colon hydrotherapy was
when I administered it twenty-five years ago as part of my
massage therapy program and that training went a lot deeper
when I attended Bastyre University. I was one of several
instructors in colon hydrotherapy at that naturopathic
college,” says Janet Beaty, ND, whose practice is in West
Concord, Massachusetts. “Now I don’t own the physical
facilities for doing it in my office but I regularly refer patients
to a competent nearby colon hydrotherapist.
“My experience with the treatment is totally positive.
I refer people to have it when they are constipated because
their colons are not fully emptying and bringing on GI
discomforts of some kind. My sense is that the patient must
empty out old waste products so that there is no interference
with healing modalities,” states Dr. Beaty. “I am using colon
hydrotherapy as my beginning treatment for detoxification,
particularly for patients with congested bowels. While I focus
on the gastrointestinal aspects of colon hydrotherapy, I also
prescribe it for the treatment of allergies, arthritis, and other
health difficulties.
“If I had my druthers, I would get all of the patients
with any health problems on colon hydrotherapy. Why I don’t
is because it entails the payment of cash-out-of-pocket and
some people find the concept too ‘kinky’ even to imagine
doing it,” Dr. Beaty says. “Yet, probably most patients should
receive at least one colon hydrotherapy during the course of
taking care of themselves. It is a very helpful tool for nearly
any patient in order to get the bowel peristalsis to work. An
effective technique for stimulating such peristalsis is to start
out with giving colon hydrotherapy using warm water and
gradually decreasing the water temperature as treatment
continues. This lower temperature tends to stimulate the
bowel muscles. The cold temperatures cause good peristaltic
action for a retraining of the bowel.
“The ideal treatment program I follow is that from
four to eight weeks the patient receives colon hydrotherapy.
This time frame is necessary for unloading a bunch of toxins
from the liver. Here is a typical case history: a thirty-sixyear-
old patient, Mrs. Cynthia Mangie, had experienced
several ectopic pregnancies which resulted in her having a
number of miscarriages and ending with chronic
endometriosis. Also, she had her belly sliced into many times.
Her caesarian pregnancies left her with too much scar tissue
so that now the endometriosis must be managed without
further surgery,” says Dr. Janet Beaty. “The solution to my
patient’s problem of endometrial pain is to take a colon
hydrotherapy one week before her period. The pain is then
reduced markedly because her usual premenstrual
constipation is prevented. With the bowel clean, Mrs. Mangie
has more room in her belly. She currently takes colon
hydrotherapy routinely for improving the quality of her life.”
Colon Hydrotherapy Used by James P. Carter, MD, DrPH
“After conducting a comprehensive digestive stool
analysis on any patient suspected of having dysbiosis (poor
intestinal hygiene), I attempt to wipe the bowel clean by
prescribing colon hydrotherapy once a week times three. In
my medical practice, I employ a registered nurse on staff to
administer this treatment,” says James P. Carter, MD, DrPH,
MS, of Mandeville, Louisiana. Dr. Carter is Professor and
Head of the Nutrition Section at Tulane University School
of Medicine.
“Also I use colon hydrotherapy as part of an overall
detoxification program, and it may be combined with
treatment from above as with drinking epsom salts, but both
are not taken on the same day,” he advises. “It promotes the
second stage of liver detoxification to cause dissolved poisons
to come out in the bile as a solvent. The patient’s washout at
least once a week from below is adjunctive with the epsom
salts.
“Colon hydrotherapy is an excellent detoxifier for
the overindulgence of alcohol drinking and drug
addictions of all kinds. Residues of drugs and other agents
in the tissues are eliminated with colon hydrotherapy,” states
Dr. James P. Carter. “It takes away any desire to use drugs or
imbibe in alcoholic beverages. Colon hydrotherapy should
be part of nearly any addict’s therapeutic regimen.”
References
1. Bettman, O.L. A Pictorial History of
Medicine. (Springfield, Illinois:
Charles C. Thomas, 1956), p.6.
2. Kellogg, J.H. “Should the colon be sacrificed
or may it be reformed? JAMA LXVIII (26): 1957-1959, June
30,1917.
Resource
Colon hydrotherapy is taught at eighteen schools
located in various regions worldwide. Instructors and Schools
are certified by the International Association for Colon
Hydrotherapy (I-ACT), located at Post Office Box 461285,
MIND BODY an I-ACT Certified School and
Instructors would be happy to send you information on next
class schedule and a I-ACT membership application.
MIND BODY Naturopthic Institute
10911 West Avenue
San Antonio, Texas 78213
http://www.theinnerhealth.com/images/valueofcolonic.pdf
by Morton Walker, DPM
© Copyright 2000 by Dr. Morton Walker
From the signal stage of history surrounding ancient Egypt, practices of colon hydrotherapy in their most basic form – enemas or clysters – have provided people with internal cleansings adjunctive to their personal external hygiene. The Ebers Papyrus, from the 14th century BC prescribes internal cleansing for no less than twenty stomach and intestinal complaints.1 But in the modern era it fell to J. H. Kellogg, MD, of Battle Creek, Michigan, famous for his invention of corn flakes and various techniques of good hygiene, to popularize colon hydrotherapy. This happened from Dr. Kellogg’s
publication of his article in the Journal of the American Medical Association praising the procedure’s efficacy for saving a dysfunctional large bowel.2 That descriptive article was the impetus for advancement of a highly beneficial therapeutic method which has since flourished and found ecognition among enlightened health professionals in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and North America. Enthusiastic expressions of approval for colon hydrotherapy are undeniable medical endorsements for this significant complementary treatment which removes metabolic waste from a person’s large bowel without applying toxic agents of any kind.
Board Certified Gastrointestinal Surgeon Dr. Leonard
Smith Endorses Colon Hydrotherapy
Thirty years ago, Leonard Smith, MD, of Gainsville,
Florida graduated from medical school and eventually
became board certified in general surgery by the American
College of Surgery. For more than twenty-five years Dr. Smith
has practiced as a specialist in gastrointestinal surgery. He
has dealt with all types of colon difficulties, including
operations for overcoming colon cancer, colon diverticulitis,
appendicitis, hemorrhoids, and numbers of other internal
organ health problems.
“l am very well acquainted with the colon’s
functions, and my true belief is that colon hydrotherapy is
the perfect cleansing medium for preparing the patient for
colonoscopy. It’s a much better way of getting the human
colon ready for an operation than having a patient swallow a
gallon of that usual presurgery solution known as ‘Colon-
Go-Lytely.’ Instead, colon hydrotherapy has the patient avoid
this solution’s noxious side effects of vomiting, diarrhea,
abdominal cramping, and other troubles,” Dr. Smith says.
“Moreover, seriously ill patients tend to be
chronically constipated which results in generalized toxemia.
It turns out that colon hydrotherapy is the gentlest and most
effective treatment to take care of a sick person’s constipation
problem. My recommendation for cancer patients is that they
should undergo frequent colon hydrotherapy procedures to
make sure a colon’s toxic burden is being kept at a minimum
while their bodies are trying to heal,” affirms Dr. Smith.
“While not a substitute for eating a high fiber diet, those
cancer patients who take colon hydrotherapy often experience
the elimination of their aches and pains, improvement of
appetite, and they tolerate a tough healing process better.
“I also believe that normally healthy people will find
it valuable to take colon hydrotherapy every couple of months
in order to experience how well one feels when the colon is
truly empty. It’s a fact that most people fail to fully evacuate
the colon, something they don’t realize. People undergoing
colon hydrotherapy on a prevention basis, become quite
surprised at how much waste is removed by the procedure,”
Dr. Smith says.
“Without any reservation, I declare that my wish is
to see it become an established procedure for may kinds of
gastrointestinal problems. If medical centers, hospitals, and
clinics installed colon hydrotherapy departments, they would
find such departments just as efficacious for patients as their
present treatment areas which are devoted to physiotherapy,”
states Leonard Smith, MD “Such is my true belief, and I
do endorse this therapeutic program.”
Reprinted with Permission from the Townsend Letter for Doctors
August / September 2000 (#205/206)
2 Reprinted with permission by MIND BODY Naturopathic Institute- 6 pages
Colon Hydrotherapy Corrects Constipation
“One of my more significant cases was Tommy, an
eight-year-old boy with the most awful constipation anyone
could imagine,” says former general surgeon and emergency
medicine specialist Paul Flashner, MD, of Wellesley,
Massachusetts. Observing their superior results for his
patients, Dr. Flashner has more recently adapted his treatment
techniques almost completely to complementary and
alternative medicine (CAM). Most definitely, he has
incorporated colon hydrotherapy as a regular CAM technique.
“Tommy’s constipation was really bad. He never had
a bowel movement for a week at a time. Recognizing the
dangers of physiological toxicity, his parents took their son
for consultation with numerous gastroenterologists. The child
had been subjected to colonoscopy a dozen times, but nothing
could be found as the source of his blockage. Laxatives hardly
helped at all. There was no diagnosis except that he suffered
severely from constipation,” confirms Dr. Flashner. “Then
the parents found their way to me so that the boy might
undergo examination and treatment one more time. They
described their eight-year-old’s condition.
“I improved the child’s diet and removed all junk
foods. Then I instigated an exercise program, had him drink
lots of water, balanced his colonic flora, and added fiber food
supplements. But most vital for Tommy’s welfare is that he
took colon hydrotherapy under my prescription. The
beneficial effect was dramatic, for within six months he was
experiencing a natural and normal bowel movement every
day. No laxatives were involved in his progress,” states Dr.
Flashner. “Now the child does not need to consult me
anymore; still, he continues his colonic cleansing by having
colon hydrotherapy. He did this once a month for six months,
and currently he undergoes the cleansing just four times a
year. It’s been two years that Tommy remains in excellent
physical condition.
“Colon hydrotherapy is the perfect specific
procedure to eliminate constipation and restore normal
bowel function. My approach to medical practice is to
balance the GI tract using stool testing. I find various
pathologies relating to bacteria, yeast, parasites, and other
organisms of this nature. A lot of disease comes from
imbalances in the colon, as manifested by inflammatory
bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, autoimmune diseases,
allergies, multiple sclerosis, and certainly constipation. Such
imbalances can be corrected by means of colon hydrotherapy,
herbal supplements, and diet,” says Dr. Paul Flashner. “There
is no question about the huge difference a health professional
can bring to the patient by utilizing colon hydrotherapy plus
other associated complementary and alternative methods of
healing.”
Giving Colon Hydrotherapy Is Standard Procedure
for Sharda Sharma, MD
Located in Millburn, New Jersey as a primary care
physician for nearly twenty-six years, Sharda Sharma, MD,
dispenses medical care of a multi-disciplinary nature to her
patients. Dr. Sharma employs colon hydrotherapy, chelation
therapy, massage therapy, acupuncture, Reiki manipulative
therapy, and much more. She treats the body as a whole
(holistically).
“I have trained and certified colon hydrotherapists
working as part of my staff. Under my supervision for the
past year-and-a-half they have been rendering care for
constipation, abdominal cramps, allergies, and a variety of
other conditions, including ten patients with hepatitis C.
These hepatitis patients respond to colon hydrotherapy and
do well,” assures Dr. Sharma. “For instance, Mrs. Felicia, a
forty-two-year-old high school teacher, had suffered with
constipation-no bowel movements for six days at a stretch.
She was bloated, fatigued, lethargic, headachy, and crampy.
My treatment choice for her was enzyme supplements and
colon hydrotherapy twice weekly for thirteen weeks. These
treatments solved the constipation problem for Mrs. Felicia.
She goes to the toilet as desired without having to sit there
for long periods waiting, reading, meditating, or undergoing
other mental or physical diversions.
“Colon hydrotherapy is excellent as a treatment
for the yeast syndrome. A very anxious fifty-year-old female,
Mrs. Sara Audrey, consulted me because she was running to
the toilet every two hours with either diarrhea or with
attempting to find comfort from constipation. It turns out
that she had irritable bowel syndrome complicated by
candidiasis. During the administration of colon hydrotherapy,
I observed that Mrs. Audrey was loaded with Candida
albicans. I recognized the white yeast organisms floating
through the transparent tube of my colon flushing device,”
says Dr. Sharma. “But the patient is now in fine shape-much
relieved. She has good bowel movements twice daily with
no gas. This is typical of almost all patients undergoing colon
hydrotherapy.”
Dr. Michael Gerber Uses Colon Hydrotherapy Routinely
“I’ve had a colon hydrotherapy device in my office
for twenty-five years,” states Michael Gerber, MD, of Reno,
Nevada. “My present staff person who dispenses colon
hydrotherapy under my jurisdiction uses it for all types of
patient difficulties. The basic concepts of the science has not
changed much in the last twenty-five years; however, the
colon hydrotherapy equipment has improved immensely.
How the equipment works so effectively is nothing short of
astounding. Registered with the FDA, current colon
hydrotherapy equipment is safe. It contains temperaturecontrolled
water mixing and back flow prevention valves,
plus pressure and temperature sensors, and built-in
chemical sanitizing units. Water purification units
frequently are installed as well. Disposable single-use
rectal tubes, and/or speculae are employed routinely for
sterility.
“Undergoing a session of colon hydrotherapy has
you experiencing comfort and cleansing with no toxicity.
Techniques utilized allow a small amount of water to flow
into the colon gently stimulating the colon’s natural peristaltic
action to release softened waste,” Dr. Gerber advises. “The
inflow of a small amount of water and the release of waste
may be repeated again and again. The removal of such waste
encourages better colon function and elimination.
“During the treatment, most clothing can continue
to be worn. In addition the patient is draped, or a gown is
worn to ensure modesty. The patient’s dignity is always
maintained,” Dr. Michael Gerber affirms. “The benefits of
colon hydrotherapy extend all the way from psychiatric
improvement to constipation elimination.”
3 Reprinted with permission by MIND BODY Naturopathic Institute- 6 pages
Colon Hydrotherapy Reduces Benign Prostatic
Hyperplasia
Joshua Heinermann, the sixty-six-year-old chief
executive officer for Virginia Chemicals Corporation of
Chesapeake, Virginia, had been suffering severely from
prostate gland enlargement (benign prostatic hyperplasia or
BPH). For four years the man’s symptoms had been building
steadily, and now they were affecting his ability to manage
in the administrative position he held. The executive’s nighttime
urinary urgency (nocturia) came with such frequency,
Mr. Heinermann found himself perpetually fatigued during
daytime business meetings. His need to sleep lay on him
like a blanket, and he felt as if his mind was encased in cotton
batting. Any capability for him to make vital decisions on
behalf of his corporation became almost nonexistant. To
confront the problem, the CEO finally consulted a urologist
located in his city.
In practice for over sixty years as a specialist in
solving urological problems for both men and women, Emil
S. Sayegh, MD, of Chesapeake, Virginia is eighty-eight years
of age. Over the six decades of his medical practice, Dr.
Sayegh has been consulted by a particularly large number of
male clientele who have sought his help in correcting BPH
and prostatitis.
“These two common medical difficulties are closely
associated with having weak abdominal muscles,” explains
the board certified urologist. “Those men possessing flaccid
and weak abdominal muscles experience enormous pressures
on their bladders which never let up. The supportive muscles
and other erectile tissues surrounding the bladder fail to do
the jobs required. The pressure of the bladder’s rectal sigmoid
is so severe that any amount of stool in that area is going to
make urine passage very difficult. Whether urine is present
or not, the need for these men to void becomes
overwhelming.”
During the past fifteen years Dr. Sayegh has made
use of colon hydrotherapy which solves his patients’ two
particular prostate pathologies almost every time. “Cleaning
the colon markedly assists the functioning of the pathological
male bladder and prostate organs. Colon hydrotherapy given
to involved men at two-week intervals for three times to start
and then maintained every four weeks for an unlimited period
does solve prostatitis and benign prostatic hyperplasia,” states
Emil S. Sayegh, MD. “From my files, I can offer up several
hundred case studies which testify to that fact.”
Cancer Patients Improve from Receiving Colon
Treatment
“I have found over the years that cancer patients who
are not doing well usually are toxic and not being cleansed.
They certainly are in need of colon hydrotherapy,” advises
oncologist and homeopath Douglas Brodie, MD, of Reno,
Nevada. Dr. Brodie has developed CAM methods for treating
cancer and other degenerative diseases aimed at strengthening
the immune system. He emphasizes natural and humane
approaches to these conditions with colon hydrotherapy being
among them.
“I do recommend that most of my cancer patients
take colon hydrotherapy or ‘colonic irrigations’ because they
often improve by having such treatment. Liver cancer in
particular shows benefit from colon hydrotherapy, but any
internal tumors show effectual change too,” Dr. Brodie says.
“It’s better than an enema, which is merely a lower bowel
cleanse, as opposed to a colonic which is a thorough cleanse
of the entire bowel. It’s similar to comparing the diagnostic
efficacy of a sigmoidoscopy of the short end of the bowel to
a colonoscopy which takes in the whole bowel. An enema
only goes so far. Colon hydrotherapy is the best cleansing
and detoxifier for the gastrointestinal tract that anybody
would want. I do promote its use.”
Conditions for Which Colon Hydrotherapy Is Effective
Maintaining a rheumatology practice for the past
twenty-four years in Long Branch, New Jersey, Arthur E.
Brawer, MD, is an enthusiastic exponent of colon
hydrotherapy for a variety of health problems. He cites this
treatment in his recently published consumer book, Holistic
Harmony.
“Silicone breast implant exposure which results in
disease symptoms responds very well to colon hydrotherapy.
I am in the center of this silicone breast implant controversy
by having consulted with over 500 women from around the
world for the toxic environmental exposure caused by such
implantation. I’ve given testimony as an expert witness before
the United States Congress on this issue along with advising
the Department of Health and Human Services, the FDA,
and consultants to the President, the Vice-president, the
Director of Women’s Health at the White House, and the
United Nations. I use colon hydrotherapy for the treatment
of such silicone toxicity, since it does work to chelate silicone
out of the body,” states Dr. Brawer. “Let me explain!
“From day one of implantation, silicone
micromolecules disperse throughout the body because the
pore size (the porosity) of the envelope or shell enclosing
the implant is larger than most of the silicone molecules
contained inside. Thus, the disease symptoms derived from
silicone toxicity is not dependent on envelope rupture.
Symptoms begin immediately! In other words, the molecules
of silicone travel through the membrane osmotically and
become microdispersed throughout the body by means of
the lymphatic system,” explains Dr. Brawer.
“Now realize that the connective tissue or collagen
in each person’s body requires silicone as an essential
component in order to provide the body with proper
architectural structure such as for tendons, ligaments, nerve
sheaths, and everything else. Silicone makes up the glue
which holds the skin together, gives substance to the organs,
act as regulators, signal transmitters, and so forth. It functions
as an integral part of metabolism and physiology. Thus, all
tissues are dependent on silicone as an essential ingredient,”
Dr. Brawer says. “But given in excess as a leaking silicone
breast implant, there is only one place the excess may be
dumped or stored by the body-into its connective tissue. When
that happens a whole litany of complaints occur: joint pains,
dry eyes, fatigue, memory lapses, skin rashes and
pigmentations, chest pain, muscle aches, drug intolerance,
odor and smell sensitivity to hair sprays, room fresheners,
deodorants, and more (see sidebar).
“So the silicone molecules become stuck in the
body’s glue, and they cannot be removed by use of
4 Reprinted with permission by MIND BODY Naturopathic Institute- 6 pages
medications or supplemental nutrients or diet. Only certain
techniques may be applied to detoxify the body: colon
hydrotherapy is perhaps the best way and also working as
detoxifiers are Ayurvedic medicine, hyperthermia, steam
baths, saunas, oxygen therapy, and the energy-based therapies
such as Reiki therapy and Qigong. Any dietary approach has
to be more an exclusionary basis – take the patient off of
processed foods and have them eat organic,” confirms Dr.
Brawer. “But of all the treatments for symptoms coming from
silicone breast implants, colon hydrotherapy I find to be one
of the mainstays that offer relief.”
Colon Hydrotherapy Is Like Cleaning Baked Lasagna
from a Pan
According to Pamela Whitney, ND, baked lasagna
may be used as a metaphor for colon cleansing. Dr. Whitney,
educational director for the New England Health Institute, is
a naturopathic physician who practices her profession in two
locations, Braintree, Massachusetts and Stowe, Vermont.
Here is how she describes the physical action of colon
hydrotherapy:
“If ever you’ve baked a lasagna and then attempted
to sanitize the messy, left-over lasagna pan, you know the
difficulty with getting it clean. For sponging such a foodcaked
pan it’s usual for cooks to soak the pan overnight. Then
they find that swabbing it the next day is easy. Colon
hydrotherapy accomplishes the same ease of cleansing on
the inside of one’s bowel. Using hydrotherapy, the colon’s
walls constantly get flushed with clear fluid, which serves to
remove mucous plus some of their longstanding, caked-on
fecal matter which contains hidden bacteria, parasites,
Candida albicans-filled pockets, and other such pathological
materials.”
From its home office located in San Antonio, Texas,
literature furnished by the International Association for Colon
Hydrotherapy or I-ACT (see the Resource section) defines
colon hydrotherapy as a
safe, effective method of
removing waste from the
large intestine, without the
use of drugs. By
introducing pure, filtered
and temperature-regulated
water into the colon, the
human waste is softened
and loosened, resulting in
evacuation through natural
peristalsis. This flushing
process usually is repeated
a few times during a
therapeutic session.
Colon hydrotherapy
is best used in combination
with adequate nutrient and
fluid intake as well as with
exercise. The modern and
sophisticated technology
applied today,
manufactured through
compliance with strict FDA
guidelines, promotes both safety and sanitation of the
procedure.
Dr. Pamela Whitney advises that her healing program
for almost any condition frequently involves prescribing colon
hydrotherapy. “I almost always refer my patient to undertake
colon cleansing as the first part of my treatment. I do this for
purposes of detoxification, since most people possess toxic
bowels which may result in either constipation or diarrheaboth
coming from the same sources of toxicity,” she says.
“The patients’ toxins tend to kick back to their blood streams
to perpetuate numerous pathologies such as candidiasis,
allergies, chronic fatigue, and other symptoms coming from
a recirculation of accumulated physiological poisons.
“I use the services of at least three skilled colon
hydrotherapists who practice near to my two offices. I don’t
know of any patient receiving colon hydrotherapy who has
not benefited from it. Certainly the treatment will get a
sluggish bowel refunctioning again. In my judgment, the
action of just one colon hydrotherapy is an experience
equivalent to someone undergoing twenty coffee enemas,”
says Dr. Whitney. “What we eat, the processed foods such as
breads, pastas, sugars, and refined deserts hit the
gastrointestinal tract like a glue which becomes nearly
indigestible. A prime source of allergies to wheat and other
flour products is this flour made into a kind of mucilage by
being mixed with saliva. This glue-like substance sticks on
the walls of one’s GI tract to slow down the individual’s
metabolic rate. Thereafter, constipation with inflammation
can develop, but colon hydrotherapy solves such a problem.”
As is obvious, Dr. Pamela Whitney is a great advocate
of colon hydrotherapy, which she prescribes as a standard
part of her treatment.
A Gastroenterologist Prescribes Colon Hydrotherapy
Board certified as a gastroenterologist from 1972,
Robert Charm, MD, of Walnut Creek, California, a clinical
professor of medicine at the University of California,
Conditions Responding to Colon Hydrotherapy
Cited by Rheumatologist Arthur E. Brawer, MD
“Colon hydrotherapy eliminates from the bowel the repository of accumulated
waste material which may disadvantageously get absorbed. If this absorption takes place,
it overwhelms the other purification organs such as the liver, the kidneys, the skin, and
the lungs. The toxin deposition which becomes lodged throughout the body’s tissues
and cells becomes capable of triggering a variety of illnesses,” says rheumatologist Dr.
Arthur E. Brawer. “There’s lots of them. Some disease indications for colon hydrotherapy
responding well are:
Allergies Arthritis Asthma
Acne Attention Deficit Disorder
Memory Lapses Hypertension Body Odor
Brittle Hair Brittle Nails Chronic Fatigue
Cold Hands & Feet Colitis Spastic Colon
Constipation Fibromyalgia Headaches
Irritable Bowel Mouth Sores Multiple Sclerosis
Nausea Peripheral Neuropathies Peptic Ulcer
Pot Belly Poor Posture Seizures
Muscle Pain Joint Aches Chest Pain
Skin Rashes Toxic Environmental Exposure
Pigmentation Toxic Occupational Exposure
5 Reprinted with permission by MIND BODY Naturopathic Institute- 6 pages
combines conventional allopathic medicine with CAM in his
practice. He also continues to make house calls.
“I prescribe colon hydrotherapy by calling upon a
superbly trained practitioner of the art in the San Francisco
Bay area. She is certified by I-ACT. Also, I’m very impressed
by the sophisticated technology as illustrated by the colon
hydrotherapy equipment. From my observation, it’s
engineered quite well,” affirms the gastroenterologist.
“Frequently while performing colonoscopy, I see that
the patient is cleaned out from above but below the
diverticular still contain fecaliths, those small turds remaining
in pockets formed on the gut mucosa. They indicate the
presence of an unhealthy colon, and over 50 percent of
Americans possess diverticulosis colae. When inflamed,
gastroenterologists called them diverticulitis colae, which can
be serious by creating fistulas. Some people then will poop
through their bladders. Some women actually poop through
the vagina,” Dr. Charm says. “With patients for whom I
perform colonoscopy, about one third of them over the age
of fifty who are otherwise cleaned above, still show residual
stools sitting in these gut mucosa pockets. Some have held
onto the stool pockets for decades. A toxic dumpsite like this
is dangerous for them by the elevated concentration of poisons
stored in the dumpsite. Environmental cancer can develop!
“A good cleanout by use of colon hydrotherapy is
excellent treatment. Surely I recommend that people
undertake colon hydrotherapy for themselves. Clean out the
body’s pipes,” Dr. Robert Charm suggests. “And by all means,
I prefer my patients to undergo colon hydrotherapy the
morning of a colonoscopy. It’s a safe way to cleanse the gut.
It’s a healing technique for the relief of irritable bowel
syndrome with gas and bloating, chronic constipation,
abdominal discomfort, and many other GI tract problems.
“My patient, Fran Wilson, a former model, now age
forty-one, the mother of two, was just too busy to go to the
bathroom. She didn’t celebrate having a good bowel
movement, which is the thinking in our society. For her,
defecation was an annoyance. Fran labored under the
mistaken illusion that pooping every three days was normal,
and she came to me complaining of feeling logy, fatigued,
bloated and abdominally cramped. None of the various drug
laxatives had been doing the job for her,” explains Dr. Charm.
“Rather, these drug-like laxatives were depleting Fran of her
potassium. The psyllium seed, fiber, and other natural agents
did not work either. Therefore I recommended that she
undertake a series of colon hydrotherapies and the drinking
of more water. This cleared up her discomforts remarkably
fast despite her lifetime of bad habits.
“The lesson to learn is that when one gets the urge
to move, you must do so. Being too busy in our society to
give into the need to defecate is wrong. Find a way,” advises
Dr. Robert Charm. “Some people don’t poop enough! Let’s
get people thinking about eating and pooping. If these don’t
occur together, colon hydrotherapy should be employed.”
Frank Shallenberger, MD, Supports Colon Hydrotherapy
Usage
Frank Shallenberger, MD HMD, of Carson City,
Nevada, declares: “I support the use of colon hydrotherapy
and do occasionally refer my patients to undertake this
treatment. It may be the best way to detoxify them.”
Christopher J. Hussar, DO, DDS, Took Colon
Hydrotherapy
From his medical/surgical practice in Reno, Nevada,
osteopathic physician and dental cavitation specialist
Christopher J. Hussar, DO, DD., does offer the following
personal statement, “I have enjoyed two colon
hydrotherapeutic treatments when, at the time, I was
experiencing partial bowel obstruction. Each colon
hydrotherapy had me feeling better. It’s my belief that this
treatment should be recommended for any person who is
having chronic constipation. Then, the local colon
hydrotherapist can become a main factor in keeping that
individual comfortable. I maintain that one should do
whatever it takes to keep up with regular bowel movements.
Colon hydrotherapy is a safe and natural laxative which works
better than any other type.
“In Reno, I refer my patients who are in need of
bowel cleansing to a colon hydrotherapist. The only reason
that I don’t refer people on a regular basis is because most of
them arrive to see me from out of town. Therefore, I tell
them to use the services of a skilled colon hydrotherapist
located in their area so that they can go for treatment often,”
says Dr. Christopher J. Hussar.
Colon Hydrotherapy Is Usual for the Patients of W. John
Diamond, MD
For W. John Diamond, MD, medical director of the
Triad Medical Center in Reno, Nevada and coauthor of that
useful consumer text, An Alternative Medicine Definitive
Guide to Cancer, colon hydrotherapy or high colonic
irrigations are usual modalities for which he refers his
patients. “For some patients with chronic constipation or
extensive yeast problems, colon hydrotherapy works
advantageously to get rid of the physical load of pathology
in the gastrointestinal tract. This treatment stimulates the
liver and gets rid of the debris that’s sticking to the mucosa.
The last time I referred my patient to take colon hydrotherapy
was just yesterday. There’s hardly a week that goes by which
does not see me utilize this fabulous treatment for one or
more patients. The colon hydrotherapist in this city of Reno
is skilled and does a fine job.
“Let me describe a particular patient of mine, Mrs.
Constance Overmacher, who benefited from colon
hydrotherapy,” says Dr. Diamond. “This woman at age fortysix
has a long history of antibiotic usage for chronic sinusitis.
She is a sugarholic to the extent that her food is totally
carbohydrates with hardly any protein or fat. She exhibits a
variety of symptoms including extreme fatigue, migraine
headaches, irregular menses, chronic constipation, abdominal
pain, and yeast growing in the bowel upon testing by EAV
[electroacupuncture according to Voll]. Presence of the yeast
was confirmed by stool culture and blood tests for yeast
antibodies and skin testing.
“For such a complicated case, I tried every kind of
treatment that was appropriate, but nothing did any good.
The only program that gave Mrs. Overmacher relief was colon
hydrotherapy prescribed for her to receive three times a week.
It took me a month to get my patient stable, but finally the
treatment’s effect kicked in. The lady did get her bowel
6 Reprinted with permission by MIND BODY Naturopathic Institute- 6 pages
cleaned up; she’s now experiencing normal stools and I have
her following a restrictive protein diet. Her energy is returned,
and she has been showing normal menses for the last two
months. Her migraines disappeared,” Dr. John Diamond
affirms. “It merely meant that I needed to get the woman
back to normal bowel function, off antibiotics, and onto
probiotics all the time. Now she takes colon hydrotherapy
on a regular once-a-month schedule. Mrs. Overmacher will
likely be forced to stay on her therapeutic program
continuously.”
Janet Beaty, N.D., Took Training in Colon Hydrotherapy
“My original training in colon hydrotherapy was
when I administered it twenty-five years ago as part of my
massage therapy program and that training went a lot deeper
when I attended Bastyre University. I was one of several
instructors in colon hydrotherapy at that naturopathic
college,” says Janet Beaty, ND, whose practice is in West
Concord, Massachusetts. “Now I don’t own the physical
facilities for doing it in my office but I regularly refer patients
to a competent nearby colon hydrotherapist.
“My experience with the treatment is totally positive.
I refer people to have it when they are constipated because
their colons are not fully emptying and bringing on GI
discomforts of some kind. My sense is that the patient must
empty out old waste products so that there is no interference
with healing modalities,” states Dr. Beaty. “I am using colon
hydrotherapy as my beginning treatment for detoxification,
particularly for patients with congested bowels. While I focus
on the gastrointestinal aspects of colon hydrotherapy, I also
prescribe it for the treatment of allergies, arthritis, and other
health difficulties.
“If I had my druthers, I would get all of the patients
with any health problems on colon hydrotherapy. Why I don’t
is because it entails the payment of cash-out-of-pocket and
some people find the concept too ‘kinky’ even to imagine
doing it,” Dr. Beaty says. “Yet, probably most patients should
receive at least one colon hydrotherapy during the course of
taking care of themselves. It is a very helpful tool for nearly
any patient in order to get the bowel peristalsis to work. An
effective technique for stimulating such peristalsis is to start
out with giving colon hydrotherapy using warm water and
gradually decreasing the water temperature as treatment
continues. This lower temperature tends to stimulate the
bowel muscles. The cold temperatures cause good peristaltic
action for a retraining of the bowel.
“The ideal treatment program I follow is that from
four to eight weeks the patient receives colon hydrotherapy.
This time frame is necessary for unloading a bunch of toxins
from the liver. Here is a typical case history: a thirty-sixyear-
old patient, Mrs. Cynthia Mangie, had experienced
several ectopic pregnancies which resulted in her having a
number of miscarriages and ending with chronic
endometriosis. Also, she had her belly sliced into many times.
Her caesarian pregnancies left her with too much scar tissue
so that now the endometriosis must be managed without
further surgery,” says Dr. Janet Beaty. “The solution to my
patient’s problem of endometrial pain is to take a colon
hydrotherapy one week before her period. The pain is then
reduced markedly because her usual premenstrual
constipation is prevented. With the bowel clean, Mrs. Mangie
has more room in her belly. She currently takes colon
hydrotherapy routinely for improving the quality of her life.”
Colon Hydrotherapy Used by James P. Carter, MD, DrPH
“After conducting a comprehensive digestive stool
analysis on any patient suspected of having dysbiosis (poor
intestinal hygiene), I attempt to wipe the bowel clean by
prescribing colon hydrotherapy once a week times three. In
my medical practice, I employ a registered nurse on staff to
administer this treatment,” says James P. Carter, MD, DrPH,
MS, of Mandeville, Louisiana. Dr. Carter is Professor and
Head of the Nutrition Section at Tulane University School
of Medicine.
“Also I use colon hydrotherapy as part of an overall
detoxification program, and it may be combined with
treatment from above as with drinking epsom salts, but both
are not taken on the same day,” he advises. “It promotes the
second stage of liver detoxification to cause dissolved poisons
to come out in the bile as a solvent. The patient’s washout at
least once a week from below is adjunctive with the epsom
salts.
“Colon hydrotherapy is an excellent detoxifier for
the overindulgence of alcohol drinking and drug
addictions of all kinds. Residues of drugs and other agents
in the tissues are eliminated with colon hydrotherapy,” states
Dr. James P. Carter. “It takes away any desire to use drugs or
imbibe in alcoholic beverages. Colon hydrotherapy should
be part of nearly any addict’s therapeutic regimen.”
References
1. Bettman, O.L. A Pictorial History of
Medicine. (Springfield, Illinois:
Charles C. Thomas, 1956), p.6.
2. Kellogg, J.H. “Should the colon be sacrificed
or may it be reformed? JAMA LXVIII (26): 1957-1959, June
30,1917.
Resource
Colon hydrotherapy is taught at eighteen schools
located in various regions worldwide. Instructors and Schools
are certified by the International Association for Colon
Hydrotherapy (I-ACT), located at Post Office Box 461285,
MIND BODY an I-ACT Certified School and
Instructors would be happy to send you information on next
class schedule and a I-ACT membership application.
MIND BODY Naturopthic Institute
10911 West Avenue
San Antonio, Texas 78213
http://www.theinnerhealth.com/images/valueofcolonic.pdf
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