Colon cleansing

Colon cleansing, also known as colon therapy, colon hydrotherapy, a colonic, or colonic irrigation, encompasses a number of alternative medical therapies claimed to remove toxins from the colon and intestinal tract by removing accumulations of feces. Colon cleansing in this context should not be confused with an enema which introduces fluid into the colon, often under mainstream medical supervision, for a limited number of purposes including severe constipation and medical imaging. Some forms of colon hydrotherapy use tubes to inject water, sometimes mixed with herbs or other liquids, into the colon via the rectum using special equipment. Oral cleaning regimes use dietary fiber, herbs, dietary supplements, or laxatives. Those who practice colon cleansing believe in autointoxication, that accumulations of putrefied feces line the walls of the large intestine and that these accumulations harbor parasites or pathogenic gut flora, causing nonspecific symptoms and general ill health. Autointoxication, a term coined in 1884 by the French physician Charles Jacques Bouchard, is a hypothesis based on medical beliefs of the ancient Egyptians and Greeks and was discredited in the early 20th century. Nonetheless, during the 2000s Internet marketing and infomercials of oral supplements supposedly for colon cleansing increased. There is no scientific evidence for the alleged benefits of colon cleansing.