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2007 Winners - Investigative
Going in for a wash
Controversial colonic irrigation offered in Kentville
By Katie Marshall
Athanaeum, Oct. 12, 2006, (Acadia University)
Feeling depressed? Have bloating and indigestion? Are you overweight? Or underweight? Do you have food allergies, loss of memory, yeast infections, asthma, skin problems, or any health difficulties at all?
Phyillistein Gibson, the owner and operator of the Oil of Life Clinic and Learning Institution Colonics in Kentville, says the answer is colonic irrigation.
“Two years ago, when I started advertising, people didn’t know what a colonic was. I’ve kinda shoved it down their throats,” she says. “You’re never too old to learn something new.”
But there are risks to the procedure. There are reports of deaths from heart failure due to excessive fluid absorption into the bloodstream, outbreaks of amebiasis from improperly-cleaned equipment, and cases of rectal perforation.
Brochures advertising Ms.Gibson’s services (the first available of their kind in Atlantic Canada) have been distributed throughout Wolfville and other areas of Nova Scotia. The services are available for $80 dollars for an hour-long session. And business is so good she says she’s planning to open another clinic in Halifax.
The colon is the final digestive organ in the gastro-intestinal tract, immediately following the small intestine. It’s also known as the large intestine due to its wider diameter (at approximately 1.5m long it is much shorter than the 8m long small intestine).
While enemas may be more familiar to many people, they are quite different than colonic irrigations. Enemas involve a small amount of liquid being held in the colon for a period of time, and generally flush only the final area of the colon. A colonic irrigation flushes the entire length of the colon, may involve the addition of substances such as essential oils to the liquid used, involves the constant in- and out-flushing of water, and a much larger quantity of water is used.
“It’s like a super-duper enema,” says Gibson, who adds that “for a typical person…you’re looking at three or four jugs [of water used].” While she is unsure of the exact quantity of water held in one of her jugs, a visual estimate suggests the equipment at the Oil of Life Clinic holds approximately 18-19 liters in one jug.
The Oil of Life Clinic and Learning Institution Colonics claims a variety of health benefits may result from a series of colonic irrigations. These include prevention of colon cancer, as well as the alleviation of autointoxication caused by the buildup of stagnant wastes in the colon—a condition that their brochure claims causes weakness, depression, bad breath, wrinkly skin, bloating, asthma, yeast infections, and loss of memory. Outside of a few very specific conditions, the theory of autointoxication has been entirely rejected by mainstream medicine.
While the claims are dubious to medical professionals, some agree that there are benefits to be had from the procedure. “Certainly, if someone’s constipated, it can make them feel better,” says Dr. Roxin, Acadia graduate and surgical resident at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Center. “I think most people do honestly feel better for it. But to say that it helps cure asthma is a bit of stretch.”
The Oil of Life clinic brochure claims that autointoxication is caused by eating mucous-producing foods such as meat, dairy, and flour, which add excess mucous to the colon. Over time, these stools leave glue-like coatings on the colon walls that accumulate into a hard rubbery crust. This leads to a buildup of poisons that can reach the nervous system, heart, stomach, skin, and lungs.
Dr. Roxin disagrees. “Really, the only thing causing bowel wall thickening leading to obstruction would be infection causing inflammatory disease…I don’t think lavage [colonic irrigation] would affect that thickening at all. The only other thing would be cancer—I don’t see how lavage would affect that.”
Ms. Gibson also claims that “over 550 different illnesses are caused by parasites…I feel the majority of illnesses are caused by parasites,” adding that the essential oils she adds to the colonic irrigation “kill parasites”.
Certainly, parasitic diseases are a major concern in many areas of the world. They are caused by protozoa (single-celled organisms such as amoebae), viruses, various roundworms and flatworms, and other organisms. However, many doctors disagree with the treatment of parasitic diseases through colonic irrigation.
“In mainstream medicine, I have never heard of colonics being used to treat any diseases outside of the GI [gastro-intestinal] tract,” says Dr. Roxin.
The colonic irrigation industry is essentially ungoverned in Canada. The Certified Colon Alternative Association of Canada is the current governing body for colonic irrigations in Canada—and was founded by Ms. Gibson, who received her certification as a colon therapist from a 40 hour course taken at the C.C.T. Professional School of Colonic Hygiene at The Wood Hygiene Institution in Kissimmee, Florida.
In Britain, the Guild of Colonic Hydrotherapists will only teach suitable students with a background in conventional medicine (doctors or nurses) or graduates of a recognized complementary medicine course that includes in-depth anatomy and physiology training.
The institution that trained Ms. Gibson has also had its share of controversy. In 2003, the Food and Drug Administration in the United States issued The Wood Hygiene Institution a warning letter stating, among other things, that the equipment sold to its students is adulterated under section 501(h) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The letter stated that the systems were also misbranded. Ms. Gibson says, to her knowledge, The Wood Hygiene Institution did not respond to the letter.
The training manual that Ms. Gibson provides for her students (her training includes 40 hours of class work and 100 hours of practicum) includes 31 pages of outright advertisements and order forms, as well as several health claims not accepted by the scientific mainstream, including that “a high acid body (acidosis) is the basis of all diseases”, “every disease has a frequency…a substance with a higher frequency will destroy a disease of lower frequency”, and that the HIV infection epidemic is at least partially caused by the over-consumption of “bad foods”.
While Ms. Gibson claims to be unaware of any risks associated with the procedure, several journal articles have been published on the matter. Three cases of rectal perforation from colonic irrigation were published in a letter to the editor in issue 10 of the 2004 Medical Journal of Australia, and the authors wrote that “colonic irrigation should be urgently and formally assessed from an evidence-based, risk-benefit perspective”.
In 2003, the Texas Attorney General filed 6 lawsuits against colonic irrigation clinics in response to the death of one woman, and the serious injury of four others. The clinics had violated both the Texas Health and Safety Code (due to the lack of physician involvement) and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (the suit calls the clinics’ claims of curing several maladies “fraudulent”).
Dr. Roxin says that for healthy people, the risks are likely minimal if proper sterilization is employed. “Can a layperson give an enema? Sure. But the care should be managed by medical personnel... [colonic irrigation]is pretty benign. There is a place for it, and I won’t begrudge her that.”
Colonic irrigation is an emerging alternative health-care practice in Canada. The risks relative to the benefits still need investigation by proper evidence-based studies—anecdotal reports do not constitute absolute proof.
