Intestine Health Dictionary

Several diseases and conditions are treated under separate headings. (See APPENDICITIS; CHOLERA; COLITIS; CONSTIPATION; CROHN’S DISEASE; DIARRHOEA; DYSENTERY; ENTERIC FEVER; HAEMORRHOIDS; HERNIA; INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE (IBD); ILEITIS; INTUSSUSCEPTION; IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME (IBS); PERITONITIS; RECTUM, DISEASES OF; ULCERATIVE COLITIS.)

In?ammation of the outer surface is called peritonitis, a serious disease. That of the inner surface is known generally as enteritis, in?ammation of special parts receiving the names of colitis, appendicitis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and in?ammatory bowel disease (IBD). Enteritis may form the chief symptom of certain infective diseases: for example in typhoid fever (see ENTERIC FEVER), cholera and dysentery. It may be acute, although not connected with any de?nite organism, when, if severe, it is a very serious condition, particularly in young children. Or it may be chronic, especially as the result of dysentery, and then constitutes a less serious if very troublesome complaint.

Perforation of the bowel may take place as the result either of injury or of disease. Stabs and other wounds which penetrate the abdomen may damage the bowel, and severe blows or crushes may tear it without any external wound. Ulceration, as in typhoid fever, or, more rarely, in TUBERCULOSIS, may cause an opening in the bowel-wall also. Again, when the bowel is greatly distended above an obstruction, faecal material may accumulate and produce ulcers, which rupture with the ordinary movements of the bowels. Whatever the cause, the symptoms are much the same.

Symptoms The contents of the bowel pass out through the perforation into the peritoneal cavity, and set up a general peritonitis. In consequence, the abdomen is painful, and after a few hours becomes extremely tender to the touch. The abdomen swells, particularly in its upper part, owing to gas having passed also into the cavity. Fever and vomiting develop and the person passes into a state of circulatory collapse or SHOCK. Such a condition may be fatal if not properly treated.

Treatment All food should be withheld and the patient given intravenous ?uids to resuscitate them and then to maintain their hydration and electrolyte balance. An operation is urgently necessary, the abdomen being opened in the middle line, the perforated portion of bowel found, the perforation stitched up, and appropriate antibiotics given.

Obstruction means a stoppage to the passage down the intestine of partially digested food. Obstruction may be acute, when it comes on suddenly with intense symptoms; or it may be chronic, when the obstructing cause gradually increases and the bowel becomes slowly more narrow until it closes altogether; or subacute, when obstruction comes and goes until it ends in an acute attack. In chronic cases the symptoms are milder in degree and more prolonged.

Causes Obstruction may be due to causes outside the bowel altogether, for example, the pressure of tumours in neighbouring organs, the twisting around the bowel of bands produced by former peritonitis, or even the twisting of a coil of intestine around itself so as to cause a kink in its wall. Chronic causes of the obstruction may exist in the wall of the bowel itself: for example, a tumour, or the contracting scar of an old ulcer. The condition of INTUSSUSCEPTION, where part of the bowel passes inside of the part beneath it, in the same way as one turns the ?nger of a glove outside in, causes obstruction and other symptoms. Bowel within a hernia may become obstructed when the hernia strangulates. Finally some body, such as a concretion, or the stone of some large fruit, or even a mass of hardened faeces, may become jammed within the bowel and stop up its passage.

Symptoms There are four chief symptoms: pain, vomiting, constipation and swelling of the abdomen.

Treatment As a rule the surgeon opens the abdomen, ?nds the obstruction and relieves it or if possible removes it altogether. It may be necessary to form a COLOSTOMY or ILEOSTOMY as a temporary or permanent measure in severe cases.

Tumours are rare in the small intestine and usually benign. They are relatively common in the large intestine and are usually cancerous. The most common site is the rectum. Cancer of the intestine is a disease of older people; it is the second most common cancer (after breast cancer) in women in the United Kingdom, and the third most common (after lung and prostate) in men. Around 25,000 cases of cancer of the large intestine occur in the UK annually, about 65 per cent of which are in the colon. A history of altered bowel habit, in the form of increasing constipation or diarrhoea, or an alternation of these, or of bleeding from the anus, in a middle-aged person is an indication for taking medical advice. If the condition is cancer, then the sooner it is investigated and treated, the better the result.... intestine, diseases of

Both the small and large intestine may develop carcinoid tumours (leading to carcinoid syndrome) and lymphomas.

Cancer of the small intestine is rare, but cancer of the large intestine is one of the most common of all cancers (see colon, cancer of; rectum, cancer of).... intestine, cancer of

Symptoms (non-specific). Loss of appetite, anaemia, weight loss; pain in abdomen, especially stomach area. Vomit appears as coffee grounds. Occult blood (tarry stools).

Causes. Alcohol, smoking cigarettes, low intake of fruits and vegetables. Foods rich in salt and nitrites including bacon, pickles, ham and dried fish. (Cancer Researchers in Digestive Diseases and Sciences) Long term therapy with drugs that inhibit gastric acid secretion increase risk of stomach cancer.

Of possible value. Alternatives:– Tea. Mixture. Equal parts: Red Clover, Gotu Kola, Yarrow. Strong infusion (2 or more teaspoons to each cup boiling water; infuse 15 minutes. As many cups daily as tolerated.

Formula. Condurango 2; Bayberry 1; Liquorice 1; Goldenseal quarter. Mix. Dose: Powders: 750mg (three 00 capsules or half a teaspoon). Liquid extracts: 1 teaspoon. Tinctures: 1-2 teaspoons. Thrice daily in water or honey.

Traditional. Rosebay Willowherb. Star of Bethlehem.

Chinese green tea. Anti-cancer effects have been found in the use of Chinese green tea extracts. Clinical trials on the therapeutic effects against early stomach cancer were promising. (Chinese Journal Preventative Medicines 1990. 24 (2) 80-2)

Chinese Herbalism. Combination. Oldenlandia diffusa 2 liang; Roots of Lu (Phragmites communis) 1 liang; Blackened Ginger 1 ch’ien; Pan-chih-lien (Scutellaria barbarta 5 ch’ein; Chih-tzu (gardenia jasminoides) 3 ch’ien. One concoction/dose daily. Follow with roots of Bulrush tea.

William H. Cook, MD. “Mullein greatly relieves pain, and may be used with Wild Yam and a little Water- Pepper (Polygonum Hydropiper).” The addition of Water-Pepper (or Cayenne) ensures diffusive stimulation and increased arterial force. Burns Lingard, MNIMH. Inoperable cancer of the stomach. Prescribed: Liquid Extract Violet leaves and Red Clover, each 4 drachms; Liquid Extract Cactus grand., 2 drops. Dose every 4 hours. Woman lived 30 years after treatment attaining age of 70.

Arthur Barker, FNIMH. Mullein sometimes helpful for pain.

Wm Boericke MD. American Cranesbill.

George Burford MD. Goldenseal.

Maria Treben. “After returning from a prison camp in 1947 I had stomach cancer. Three doctors told me it was incurable. From sheer necessity I turned to Nature’s herbs and gathered Nettle, Yarrow, Dandelion and Plantain; the juice of which I took hourly. Already after several hours I felt better. In particular I was able to keep down a little food. This was my salvation.” (Health Through God’s Pharmacy – 1981) Essiac: Old Ontario Cancer Remedy. Sheila Snow explored the controversy surrounding the famous cancer formula ‘Essiac’. This was developed by Rene Caisse, a Canadian nurse born in Bracebridge, Ontario, in 1888. Rene noticed that an elderly patient had cured herself of breast cancer with an Indian herbal tea. She asked for the recipe and later modified it. Rene’s aunt, after using the remedy for 2 years, fully recovered from an inoperable stomach cancer with liver involvement, and other terminal patients began to improve.

Rene’s request to be given the opportunity to treat cancer patients in a larger way was turned down by Ottawa’s Department of Health and Welfare. She eventually handed over the recipe to the Resperin Corporation in 1977, for the sum of one dollar, from whom cancer patients may obtain the mixture if their doctors submit a written request. However, records have not been kept up.

In 1988 Dr Gary Glum, a chiropractor in Los Angeles, published a book called ‘Calling of an Angel’: the true story of Rene Caisse. He gives the formula, which consists of 11b of powdered Rumex acetosella

(Sorrel), 1 and a half pounds cut Arctium lappa (Burdock), 4oz powdered Ulmus fulva (Slippery Elm bark), and 1oz Rheum palmatum (Turkey Rhubarb). The dosage Rene recommended was one ounce of Essiac with two ounces of hot water every other day at bedtime; on an empty stomach, 2-3 hours after supper. The treatment should be continued for 32 days, then taken every 3 days. (Canadian Journal of Herbalism, July 1991 Vol XII, No. III)

Diet. See: DIET – CANCER. Slippery Elm gruel.

Note: Anyone over 40 who has recurrent indigestion for more than three weeks should visit his family doctor. Persistent pain and indigestion after eating can be a sign of gastric cancer and no-one over 40 should ignore the symptoms. A patient should be referred to hospital for examination by endoscope which allows the physician to see into the stomach.

Study. Evidence to support the belief that the high incidence of gastric cancer in Japan is due to excessive intake of salt.

Note: A substance found in fish oil has been shown experimentally to prevent cancer of the stomach. Mackerel, herring and sardines are among the fish with the ingredient.

Treatment by or in liaison with hospital oncologist or general medical practitioner. ... cancer – stomach and intestines

Structural abnormalities may be present from birth (congenital) or may develop later. They cause blockage of the intestine (see intestine, blockage of) and include atresia, stenosis, and volvulus. In newborns, meconium (fetal intestinal contents) may block the intestine.

Generalized inflammation of the intestine may result from viral or bacterial infections or from noninfectious causes, as in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Gastroenteritis is the term commonly applied to inflammation of the stomach and intestines. Infection encompasses food poisoning, traveller’s diarrhoea, typhoid fever, cholera, amoebiasis, and giardiasis. Intestinal worm infestations include roundworms and tapeworms. Sometimes inflammation is localized, such as in appendicitis and diverticular disease.

Tumours of the small intestine are rare, but noncancerous growths, lymphomas, and carcinoid tumours (causing carcinoid syndrome) occur. Tumours of the large intestine are common (see colon, cancer of; rectum, cancer of). Some forms of familial polyposis may progress to cancer. Impaired blood supply (ischaemia) to the intestine may occur as a result of partial or complete obstruction of the arteries in the abdominal wall (from diseases such as atherosclerosis) or from the blood vessels being compressed or trapped, as in intussusception or hernias. Loss of blood supply may cause gangrene.

Other disorders that affect the intestine include peptic ulcers, diverticulosis, malabsorption, coeliac disease, and irritable bowel syndrome.... intestine, disorders of

A blockage in the small intestine usually causes intermittent cramp-like pain in the centre of the abdomen with increasingly frequent bouts of vomiting and failure to pass wind or faeces. An obstruction in the large intestine causes pain, distension of the abdomen, and failure to pass wind or faeces.

Treatments involve emptying the stomach via a nasogastric tube and replacing lost fluids through an intravenous drip In some cases, this will be sufficient to correct the problem. However, in many cases, surgery to deal with the cause of the blockage is necessary.... intestine, obstruction of