Clovell Pointe Wellness Centre

Colon Hydrotherapy

What is it?

Colon hydrotherapy is a safe and gentle infusion of temperature and pressure regulated filtered water to hydrate and cleanse the entire large intestine. The water that is absorbed during the treatment cleanses tissue at the cellular level and removes toxins enhancing elimination through the liver, kidneys, skin and lymphatics, as well as in the colon. This cleansing procedure softens and loosens waste, retained gas, and mucus, resulting in evacuation through natural peristalsis. This process is repeated several times during a 45 to 60 minute session. Colon hydrotherapy is best used in combination with adequate nutrient and fluid intake as well as exercise. Colon hydrotherapy in not proposed as a cure-all, but an important adjunctive approach in the overall health care of the client.

Why Should I Be Concerned About My Colon?

The latest estimates show that over 90% of disease and illness in America is related in some way to an unhealthy colon.

• The American Cancer Society states that 1 death occurs every 9.3 minutes from colorectal cancer.
• We as Americans spend over 120 billion dollars a year on medical care to treat digestive diseases.
• Colon cancer is the second leading cancer killer in the United States

The large intestine can hold from anywhere from 10 to 20 pounds of fecal matter at a given time. These toxins are redistributed into our bloodstream thus making our systems sluggish and toxic.

How Many Colon Hydrotherapy Sessions Does One Need?

The number of colon hydrotherapy sessions desired will depend on the individual needs. Every person's goals will differ. Initially, the individual will benefit most by a series of 3 to 7 colonics closely grouped together. Individual treatment plans will be recommended based on colon health, diet, and lifestyle. Just as some people exercise on a daily or weekly basis to tone and tighten their outer body, some people follow an ongoing cleansing, toning and rebuilding regimen for the inner body. Colon hydrotherapy can be used as part of any regular monthly maintenance program. When you start a detox (cleansing) program, especially as a first-time cleanser, it is important to keep it simple. A realistic commitment is required to stay excited about creating long term optimal health.

History of Colon Therapy

The value of tissue cleansing through colon lavage (irrigation or washing out of an organ) has been practiced for over three thousand years. Colon cleansing was first described in 1500 B.C. in the 'Ebers Papyrus', an ancient Egyptian medical document. Hippocrates (4th and 5th century B.C.) and Galen in the 2nd century were proponents of colon lavage for fever therapy. In these earlier times, lavage treatments were often implemented in a river by using a hollow reed to induce water flow into the rectum.

Centuries later, the benefits of colon lavage were still recognized. The 17th century became known as the "age of the enema", or the "age of clysters". It was an acceptable practice in Parisian society to enjoy as many as three or four enemas a day, the belief being that an internal washing or "lavement" was essential to well-being.

Since the turn of the century, colon hydrotherapy has experienced periods of popularity with alternating periods of rejection. The primary factors responsible for the stereotypes, misconceptions and general ambivalence was the practice of this therapy by the untrained, which was detrimental to its acceptance by the medical profession.

Despite the wavering of advocacy toward this practice in the early 1900's, the value of colon hydrotherapy was acknowledged by many medical practitioners of that era. Most noteworthy were James A. Wiltsie M.D., Joseph Waddington M.D., and John H. Kellogg M.D.

In the early 1900's Dr. John H. Kellogg M.D. extensively used colon therapy on some forty thousand of his patients. In a 1917 edition of the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) Dr. Kellogg reported that in over forty thousand gastrointestinal disease cases, he had used surgery in only twenty cases. The rest were helped as a result of cleansing the bowels, diet and exercise.

Dr. Waddington stated, in his work "Scientific Intestinal Irrigation and Adjuvant Therapy", the following:

Abnormal functioning of the intestinal canal is the precursor of much ill-health, especially of chronic disease. Restoration of physiological intestinal elimination is often the important preliminary to eventual restoration of health in general.

Dr. Wiltsie contends, "our knowledge of the normal and abnormal physiology of the colon and its pathology and management has not kept pace with that of many organ systems of the body. As long as we continue to assume the colon will take care of itself, it's just that long that we will remain in complete ignorance of perhaps the most important source of ill health in the whole body."

Today, as people look for alternatives to the over prescribed, over priced and often consequential drug therapy regimen, they are once again discovering the benefits of the natural alternative to maintaining a healthy and viable colon. Advances in modern technology (safety and effectiveness of colon hydrotherapy instruments) and the standardization of therapist training have again made this alternative modality a safe, viable, and convenient option for many.

Professional Opinions

Dr. Leonard Smith
Board Certified Gastrointestinal Surgeon Dr. Leonard Smith Endorses Colon Hydrotherapy

Thirty years ago, Leonard Smith, M.D., of Gainsville, Florida graduated from medical school and eventually became board certified in general surgery by the American College of Surgery. For more than 25 years Dr. Smith has practiced as a specialist in gastrointestinal surgery. He has dealt with all types of colon difficulties, including operations for colon cancer, colon diverticulitis, appendicitis, hemorrhoids, and numbers of other internal organ problems.

"I 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 presurgery solution known as 'Colon-Go-Lytely.' Instead, colon hydrotherapy allows the patient to 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 for a constipation problem. My recommendation for cancer patients is that they should undergo frequent colon hydrotherapy procedures to make sure the 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, are quite surprised at how much waste is removed by the procedure," Dr. Smith says.

"Without reservation, my wish is to see it become an established procedure for many 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 belief, and I do endorse this therapeutic program."

Dr. Paul Flashner
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 recently adapted his treatment techniques almost completely to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). He has most definitely 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.

"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; he still continues his colon hydrotherapy. He did this once a month for six months, and currently he undergoes the cleansing just four times a year. It's now two years and 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 complementary and alternative methods of healing."

Dr. Micharel Gerber
Dr. Michael Gerber Uses Colon Hydrotherapy Routinely

"I've had a colon hydrotherapy device in my office for 25 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 25 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 temperature-controlled 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 allows 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.

"The benefits of colon hydrotherapy extend all the way from psychiatric improvement to constipation elimination," Dr. Michael Gerber affirms.

Dr. Emil S. Sayegh
Colon Hydrotherapy Reduces Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Joshua Heinermann, the 66 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 his symptoms had been building steadily, and now they were affecting his ability to function in his administrative position. The executive's night-time 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. To confront the problem, the CEO finally consulted a urologist located in his city.

In practice for over 60 years as a specialist in urological problems for both men and women, Emil S. Sayegh, M.D., of Chesapeake, Virginia is 88 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 15 years Dr. Sayegh has made use of colon hydrotherapy which solves his patients' prostate pathologies almost every time. "Cleaning the colon markedly assists the functioning of the male bladder and prostate organs. Colon hydrotherapy given to men at two-week intervals for three times to start and then maintained every four weeks for an unlimited period does resolve 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."

Dr. Douglas Brodie
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 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."

Dr. Arthur E. Brawer
Conditions for Which Colon Hydrotherapy is Effective

Maintaining a rheumatology practice for the past 24 years in Long Branch, New Jersey, Arthur E. Brawer, MD, is an enthusiastic proponent of colon hydrotherapy for a variety of health problems. He cites this treatment in his recently published book, Holistic Harmony.

Dr. Arthur E. Brawer
Conditions Responding to Colon Hydrotherapy Cited by Rheumatologist Arthur E. Brawer, MD

"Colon hydrotherapy eliminates from the bowel the accumulated waste material which may 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 are: Allergies, arthritis, asthma, acne, attention deficit disorder, memory lapses, hypertension, body odor, brittle hair, brittle nails, chronic fatigue, cold hands and 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.

"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 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 architectual 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.

"So the silicone molecules become stuck in the body's glue, and they cannot be removed by use of 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 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, I find colon hydrotherapy to be one of the mainstays that offer relief."

Dr. Pamela Whitney
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 food-caked 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 diarrhea – both coming from the same sources of toxicity," she says. "The patients' toxins tend to kick back to their bloodstreams 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 20 coffee enemas," says Dr. Whitney. "What we eat, the processed foods such as breads, pastas, sugars, and refined desserts 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 the GI tract and slows down the 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.

Dr. Robert Charm
A Gastroenterologist Prescribes Colon Hydrotherapy

Board certified as a gastroenterologist since 1972, Robert Charm, MD, of Walnut Creek, California, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, 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% of Americans possess diverticulosis colae. When inflamed, gastroenterologists called them diverticulitis colae, which can be serious by creating fistulas. Some people then will evacuate through their bladders," 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. Cancer can develop!

"A good cleanout by use of colon hydrotherapy is excellent treatment. 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 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, age 41, 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 having a bowel movement 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 start drinking more water. This cleared up her discomfort 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 in to the need to defecate is unhealthy. Find a way," advises Dr. Robert Charm.

Dr. Frank Shallenberger
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."

Dr. Christopher J. Hussar
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, DDS, offers the following personal statement, "I myself have enjoyed two colon hydrotherapeutic treatments when I was experiencing partial bowel obstruction. Each colon hydrotherapy session 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 come 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.

Dr. W. John Diamond
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 An Alternative Medicine Definitive Guide to Cancer, colon hydrotherapy or high colonic irrigations are usual modalities to 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 a patient to take colon hydrotherapy was just yesterday. There's hardly a week that goes by which does not see me utilize this treatment for one or more patients. The colon hydrotherapist in Reno is skilled and does a fine job.

"Let me describe a particular patient of mine, Constance Overmacher, who benefited from colon hydrotherapy," says Dr. Diamond. "This woman at age 46 has a long history of antibiotic usage for chronic sinusitis. She is a sugarholic to the extent that her diet 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 three times a week. It took a month to get my patient stable, but finally the treatment's effect kicked in. The lady did get her bowel cleaned up; she's now experiencing normal stools and I have her following a restrictive protein diet. Her energy has returned, and she has been having normal menses for the last two months. Her migraines disappeared," Dr. John Diamond affirms. "It merely meant that I needed to get her 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 need to stay on her therapeutic program indefinitely."

Dr. Janet Beaty
Janet Beaty, ND, Took Training in Colon Hydrotherapy

"My original training in colon hydrotherapy was when I administered it 25 years ago as part of my massage therapy program and that training went a lot deeper when I attended Bastyr 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 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 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 any health care. 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 36 year-old patient, Cynthia Mangie, had experienced several ectopic pregnancies which resulted in her having a number of miscarriages and ending with chronic endometriosis. Her caesarian pregnancies left her with a lot of 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. She currently takes colon hydrotherapy routinely for improving the quality of her life."

Dr. James P. Carter 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 clean the bowel 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 such as 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 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 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, Ilinois: 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.

Importance of Water

The human body requires a fresh supply of water every day. Not only is water one of the most abundant nutrients available, but it's also the most important. Water helps regulate and maintain your body temperature, transports nutrients and oxygen, removes waste products, and moistens your mouth, eyes, nose, hair, skin, joints, and digestive tract. Limiting your water intake can result in dehydration, elevated body temperature, fatigue, decreased performance, and increased risk of heat-related illness. Consume at least ten 8-ounce glasses of water per day.