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What's the harm in colon cleansing?
Many alternative health practitioners claim that periodically cleaning or purging your colon is key to health. There is little science to support this, yet dubious products and procedures are sold. Read more about colon cleansing
Here are 44 people who were harmed by someone not thinking critically.
Anne M. AdkinsWichita, Kansas |
Kidney failure |
| She traveled to Utah to be treated by a holistic naturopath. She received large doses of vitamin C, chelation therapy and colonics among other things. Within weeks she was suffering from kidney failure. Read more & more | |
Laverne Burrell & 4 othersAge: 72 |
Died / injured |
| Her very first colonic resulted in a severe injury that resulted in her death four months later. Her death and serious injuries to four others resulted in successful prosecutions by the Texas Attorney General. Read more & more & more | |
36 Colorado patientswestern Colorado |
6 died, 10 colectomies, 36 total infections |
| This New England Journal of Medicine report is on an outbreak of amebiasis spread by colonic irrigation equipment at a chiropractic clinic in Colorado. Six patients died, thirty others required surgery or hospital care. Read more | |
"John Doe"Singapore |
Injured (perineal gangrene) |
| This case report from Tan Tock Seng Hospital is of a patient who developed life-threatening perineal gangrene as a result of a perforation of his rectum caused by colonic hydrotherapy (an 'alternative medicine' treatment). Read more | |
"Jane Roe"Age: 30 |
Hospitalized |
| This case report is of a woman who was diagnosed with pelvic abscesses and other complications six months after having colonic hydrotherapy. These were treated surgically and with antibiotics, and she recovered fully. Read more | |