Colitis Research
Alternative
& Complementary Therapies
Medical Herbalism
& Colitis
Medical herbalism is today a sophisticated system of natural
medicine using plant extracts and herbs to help treat physical and mental disorders.
There are several herbs that
have been shown to help colitis including Slippery Elm and Psyllium seed (1). The Psyllium
(otherwise known as Isapaghula or flea seed) is a soft bulking agent which, like other
dietary fibre, absorbs excess fluid. What makes Psyllium particularly beneficial in
Crohn's disease and colitis is that it is a soft fibre as opposed to the hard, rough fibre
in bran.
Medical Herbalists will take account of other factors and
will prescribe for them accordingly. Anti-inflammatory herbs such as meadow sweet and
comfrey may be prescribed in cases of colitis and crohn's disease along with nervines and
calmatives such as lady's slipper, valerian root, scullcap and chamomile, if stress is a
related factor.(2)
Dietary advice may also be given by a medical herbalist. It
is interesting to note that Jethro Kloss, the famous American herbalist, recommended in
the 1930's that people with all forms of colitis would be advised to go on a liquid diet
for a short time to give the intestines a rest - advice which has in more recent years
been demonstrated in controlled studies to be effective. (3)
Interestingly, research carried out with liquorice root
have shown it to be more effective than most conventional drugs at healing gastric ulcers,
provided it is taken on an empty stomach. (4)
(1) Dr RF Weiss Herbal Medicine p.114
(2) Nalda Gosling Successful Herbal Remedies (Thorsons) p.45
(3) Back to Eden J.Kloss p.354
(4) Dr Stephen Fulder - Handbook of Complementary Medicine 1988
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Hypnotherapy
& Colitis
A little over ten years
ago an interesting research study relating to the application of hypnotherapy in
the treatment of colitis was published which did not receive much publicity. It
was a controlled study involving 266 patients which found that hypnotherapy and
psychotherapy techniques can significantly improve the results obtained through
conventional treatment of colitis (i.e.. drugs, diet and surgery.) the
researchers found that many chronic diarrhoeal disorders such as colitis and
crohn's disease are very much influenced by stress and emotional conflicts (e.g..
depression, mental lability and anorexia), and they found that dealing with
those stresses and anxieties through hypnotherapy and psychotherapy resulted in
significant improvements in the conditions of the patients. Whilst the
researchers did not suggest that these mind therapies should substitute other
forms of treatment, they did demonstrate that psychotherapy and hypnotherapy
could augment the effects of other therapies and should be considered for
patients suffering from colitis and associated diseases who do not respond well
to conventional treat.
(1) Psychotherapy of
Crohn disease Zur Psychotherapie des M. Crohn. Feiereis H Langenbecks Arch Chir 1984, 364
p407-11
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