Colon Hydrotherapy
Colon Anatomy and General information about the Digestive Tract.
The digestive system includes a long tube that is approximately thirty feet long (nine meters) in a typical adult, extending from the back of the throat to the exit at the anus. This tube includes the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, and anus. Several accessory structures support digestive activity including the teeth, tongue, salivary glands, spleen, pancreas, gallbladder, and liver. Food moves along from the mouth to the anus and is involved five important activities.
1. Ingestion
2. Peristalsis
3. Digestion
4. Assimilation
5. Defecation
Eastern medicine teaches that nothing leaves the stomach until it reaches body temperature. Therefore, drinking cold liquids and eating cold foods slows this process. This often results in GERD, since the food lingers in the stomach longer and heat will always rise. Using warming herbs, such as ginger and cinnamon, helps stimulate digestive fire (Flaws, 1998).
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Small Intestine
It is a long tube approximately twenty to twenty-three feet long and is made up of three distinct segments:
1. Duodenum
2. Jejunum
3. Ileum
Approximately 80-90 percent of nutrient absorption takes place in the small intestine.
Large Intestine
All of our waste materials are eliminated via the large intestine, also called the colon or bowel. It is approximately five to six feet in an average adult, two to three inches in diameter and secretes mucus to lubricate the passage of fecal matter.
One main function of the large intestine is the absorption of water and electrolytes. This is why colon hydrotherapy is so beneficial to increasing cellular hydration(B. Watson, 2008).
The large intestine is comprised of ten distinct structures, each playing a role in the digestive process:
1. Cecum
2. Appendix
3. Ascending Colon
4. Hepatic Flexure
5. Transverse Colon
6. Splenic Flexure
7. Descending Colon
8. Sigmoid Flexure
9. Rectum
10. Anus
There are literally trillions of bacteria cells in the intestines, ten times the number of human cells. These organisms help to protect the intestinal mucus membranes, detoxify pathogens, produce essential fatty acids, manage immune function, keep the ph balanced, and help keep the digestive processes flowing (T. Rau, 2007).
The large intestine has four mechanical movement that occur:
1. Haustral Churning
2. Peristalsis
3. Anti-peristalsis
4. Mass peristalsis
The rectum is a chamber in the last seven to eight inches of the gastrointestinal tract. Distention of the rectal walls with wast material initiates the defecation reflex via the autonomic nervous system.
The valves of Houston are the semicircular folds in the rectum to slow the movement of the feces down, discovered by anatomist John Houston in 1830.
There are several accessory organs that facilitate the processes along the digestive tract.
1. Pancreas
2. Spleen
3. Liver
4. Gallbladder
5. Blood Circulation
6. Defecation
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Colon Pathology
1. Constipation
2. Gas
3. Eating Disorders (Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia)
4. Diarrhea
5. Peptic Ulcer Disease (PUD)
6. Esophagitis
7. Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
8. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
9. Leaky Gut Syndrome (LGS)
10. Hemorrhoids
11. Diverticulosis
12. Hiatal Hernia
13. Abdominal Hernia
14. Abscess
15. Fistula
16. Fissures
17. Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) - examples Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis
18. Volvulus
19. Intussusception
20. Diverticulitis
21. Colon polyps
22. Celiac Diseas (CD)
23. Toxic Megacolon
24. Colon Cancer
25. Parasite Infection
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