How Constipation Affects the Colon’s Function
How Constipation Affects the Colon’s Function
As the Holiday Season rapidly approaches, and our busy schedules take over our sense of a well balanced diet, we must take the time to understand what constipation does to our bodies.
Constipation involves not only the unnecessary retention of feces in the bowel, but also the retention present throughout the first half of the colon, from the cecum to the middle of the transverse colon. The cecum is found next to the ileocecal valve at the beginning of the colon.
The wall of this section of the colon is equipped with sensitive nerves and muscles whose function is to create wave-like motions – known as peristaltic waves – to propel the contents of the colon from the cecum to the rectum for eventual evacuation. This is a distance of approximately 5 feet.
Besides the formation of these peristaltic waves, the first half of the colon has two other very important functions. First, it must extract from the entire residue coming from the small intestine any available nutritional material which the small intestine was unable to collect.
For this purpose, it mulches the material which passes into it from the small intestine and transfers the liquid and other elements through its walls into the bloodstream. The nutrition which has thus been extracted from the colon is collected by the blood vessels lining the walls of the colon and is carried to the liver for processing.
The other important first half of the colon is to gather from the glands in its walls the intestinal flora needed to lubricate the colon.
When the packed accumulation of feces in the bowel leads to fecal encrustation, it is not possible for the lining of the colon to function normally, and the glands in this lining cannot produce the necessary intestinal flora for lubrication. Such lack of lubrication only serves to intensify a state of constipation, and to generate toxemia.
When the bowel is toxic, it can harbour an amazing variety of very harmful bacteria and parasites. It’s interesting to note that worms out rank cancer as man’s deadliest enemy on a world-wide basis….and it is estimated that 200 million people are infected by these intestinal parasites.
Colon Hydrotherapy treatments are highly recommended to help maintain a clean, healthy colon.