Medical Updates

I know that this message will probably be too long for most people to read it, but here goes anyway. I have returned to this forum after a break of some years, while I was out of the country. On glancing over the postings I see that a number still seem apologetic (on blaming) for parents who bought into the traditional 'myth' of connection between moodiness or behavior and constipation, and the benefits of enemas and suppositories to promote regularity. The standard medical position, of course, has been - until very recently - that any such connection is either imaginary, or hypochondriac, or suggestibile, or simply arising from physical discomfort from intestinal bloating and distension. However, there is currently enough research, and theoretical underpinnings, to give the traditional position almost any spin you'd like to promote, and plenty of support for the position that if enemas or cleanouts leave you feeling fresh and light, they may have far more widespread bodily benefit.

The use of enemas for conditions unrelated to constipation has ancient roots. For example, in researching migraine remedies some years ago for a friend I came across the Ayurvedic advice that an enema could relieve a migraine for long enough, at least, to enable the sufferer to get to sleep. Although lately recast as blaming constipation as a cause of the migraine, its orginial explanation was to the effect that the vital essences that should have been flowing among the chakras got stuck in the lower centers, and the enema might promote their flow up the the brain and upper centers where they were lacking. At the time, I gave that as much credence as advice to nail a toad to your door, and did not even mention it to the friend. Years later, though, I heard almost the same theory on PBS - granted, it was from a 'visionary' medical promoter of the sort they roll out at fund-drive time - using modern terms such as neurotransmitters, based on an understanding of Dr. Michael Gershon's work on the gut as the 'second brain.' (Gershon basically claimed that the gut holds far more 'mood chemicals' - neurotransmitters - than the brain, and that their principal function was actually as immune system agents, then innovative but now accepted.)

Since then, the microbiome - intestinal flora - has blossomed as field of serious study, and absolutely bloomed in the past two years. (I provide below sample recent references to begin study, but an easy search will locate thousands.) Absolutely sober and professional research ties intestinal flora to everything from autism to parkinson's, along with all mental and mood-related conditions in between. There should no longer be serious doubt that the state of the intestines is directly and immediately connected to mood and psychological as well as overall physical health. Medicine is not quite ready to map the intestinal conditions to other bodily and psychological states (like a foot-reflexology chart!) - but each of us can do so, based on our own experiences, without feeling like ignorant peasants.

My intention is not to argue for a specific mode of action, but research into references will yield numerous possible mechanisms. The wrong (or stressed) gut bacteria might directly cause effects, through toxic secretions, and the enema might 'reshuffle' them (my term!); or the physical stimulation of the enteric system might promote a surge of mood chemicals; or the enemas might stimulate the vagus nerve, and so on. And by the way, the vagus nerve, which wanders through most of the organs of the body including the colon, and the impulses of which flow mostly upward, to the brain and about the status of the organs, has been shown both to have curative powers through direct stimulation (Wikipedia lists conditions ranging from burns to multiple sclerosis and OCD) but also to act, in effect, as a telegraph, crossing the blood-brain barrier to deliver content information about medicines and agents which could not cross directly.

So the next time your doctor tells you that the effect of enemas is all psychosomatic, tell him/her confidently that it just isn't true; and the next time your hubby is acting like he needs an enema, damn well give it to him! It is sure as hell cheaper and faster than a psychiatrist or a divorce, and likely more effective than the psychiatrist besides.

On a slightly different topic, fecal implants - poop enemas - are no longer fringe treatments for microbiome imbalances such as colonization by clostridium difficile: they are not only mainstream, but absolutely miracle cures, even for people who have suffered for years and practically lost all hope. The last reference below is to a report of 90% success - by the Mayo Clinic!

(I regret that I have not much more which I can share about this productively, being neither a doctor nor a biomedical researcher. Anyone with Google access can pursue these lines just as well as I - and the references below will serve as a good starting point.)

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MICROBIOME:

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http://www.scientificamerican.com/editorial/innovations-in-the-microbiome/

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http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/40038/title/The-Maternal-Microbiome/

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http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/40600/title/The-Body-s-Ecosystem/

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... AND MENTAL STATES or general health:

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http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/09/gut-feeling.aspx

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3564498/

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21485746

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http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2014/08/116526/do-gut-bacteria-rule-our-minds

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-health/9197756/What-your-guts-telling-you-why-your-digestion-holds-the-key-to-your-health.htm

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FECAL IMPLANTS:

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http://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/clinical-updates/digestive-diseases/quick-inexpensive-90-percent-cure-rate

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