Dr Heah Sieu Min, a Singaporean colorectal surgeon, knows how to scare colon torturers who eat recklessly in spite of widespread standard knowledge of what constitutes a healthy diet.
In his laptop computer, he has many gross pictures of colon cancer and anuses with piles, or hemorrhoids.
""I see some of you are shutting your eyes. Relax, you'll get used to it,"" said Dr Heah, displaying a picture of gut-wrenching hemorrhoids via a projector.
With a laid-back expression typical of medical doctors, he explains each enlarged picture: This is piles, this is an example of colon cancer so large it stuck to a uterus, this is polyp (large one, small one), and so on.
""How to tell the difference between piles or colon cancer? Colon cancer has no symptoms until you have it,"" he said.
One of the early symptoms is bleeding.
""But colon cancer patients often ignore cancer bleeding because it comes and goes,"" he said. ""The blood comes from the stomach, but there's very little blood so you ignore it.""
Piles patients, however, usually do not waste time seeing a doctor after the first bleeding. ""In piles, the source of blood is not far from your rectum, so it drips freshly from the anus,"" he explained.
He later shows a scanned copy of a news article about the McDonald's CEO who died aged 44 of colon cancer.
His message: Stay away from junk food and other bad food.
Dr Heah says that colon cancer has become a number-one complaint in Singapore recently. He says that a survey shows that 77 percent of patients indicate sporadic incidence of cancer while for 15 percent it runs in the family.
""If you don't have any relatives who've had colon cancer, you should have a colonoscopy when you're 40,"" he said.
Colonoscopy is basically a way to see inside the colon using a endoscope inserted through your anus.
In his Pacific Healthcare medical center, Singapore, colonoscopy costs US$650.
""But if you have bleeding, a change in toilet routine or constipation, you should see a doctor,"" he said.
Constipation is one way to tell if your colon is having a problem.
A naturopathy doctor from Healthy Choice, Riani S. Budiharsana says that constipation can be solved with colon hydrotherapy.
""I have treated about 2,000 clients here. The worst case was a client who hadn't defecated for six weeks,"" she says.
Colon hydrotherapy has been practiced throughout the world for many years. Basically, it cleans the entire, meter-long colon with purified water. She says that much waste does not emerge every day, as much of it remains stuck to the colon walls. Water will soften this material and release it from the colon.
""It's safe and effective,"" she says.
She says the difference between enemas and hydrotherapy is the former clean only part of the colon. Unlike laxatives, it uses no chemicals -- just water, Riani adds.
She says that to maintain a healthy colon, people should avoid junk food, drink enough water to avoid constipation and eat enough fiber, but not too much.
""A lack of exercise, overuse of antibiotics, the drug cortisone, birth control pills and ignoring the urge to defecate will lead to colon problems,"" she adds.
She says that people should pay attention to their toilet habit. ""We have to eliminate waste at least once a day. And the shape of the feces should be banana-like, not small balls or dried, like goat feces.""
If you don't go to the toilet once a day and don't have ""healthily-shaped"" feces, beware! Read diet books that are easily available in city bookstores or seek information on the Internet.
You don't want your colon to be photographed and showed around the world, right?
(Evi Mariani)
On the Net: Pacific Healthcare Holdings www.pachealthholdings.com
Healthy Choice www.healthychoiceindonesia.com
