Using Colon Cleansers

A recent warning from the FDA has been issued. I for one don't understand this recent phenomena. I mean really, cleansing something that for all human history has been done by itself screams problems. Our bodies are the way they are for a reason. They function the way they are intended to for a reason. To use something like this as weight loss?????? Get real. How much "waste" can you really have? If you eat correctly, exercise, supplement THE RIGHT WAY, why would you believe all this about having years of waste in your colon???? The colon is only so large, I for one find it impossible to even begin to believe you can have 10+ extra pounds built up. Now I agree that factors in our lives can impact our overall health. Stress is the biggest factor in weight gain, headaches, and so on. But to think that there is a magic cure in a bottle is why all the billions of people in this world are so unhealthy. Your health starts with choices. What you eat. Food is our health. We need food. But we need the right food. Eating 40 years of junk and expecting a "cleaning" of any kind to fix the bad choices we made is just plain ignorance. Fad diets, colon cleansing, "do this now, not that". Why do you think people lose weight and gain it right back? Diets don't work. Sure if you want to stay attached to those diet foods forever maybe you will keep it off, but get real. How many people do that? And how healthy is it? You don't need diet plans or diet food. You need to start getting the trash out of your house. The processed easy to fix foods. Have a real salad. Eat fresh food not canned. And supplement the right way. Whole food vitamins. Not synthetic lab made stuff. Those are not helping you. Whole foods provide nearly everything the body needs. They naturally cleanse the body. No chemicals. No junk. Just stuff found in fruits and veggies. The way it was meant to be.

Learn to diet the right way

Kidney Risk Spurs Warning on Bowel Cleansers

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has acted to reduce the risk of acute kidney injury from oral sodium phosphate (OSP) products. These products are routinely used as bowel cleansers before colon examinations and other medical procedures.

The agency is adding a Boxed Warning to two prescription OSP products: Visicol and OsmoPrep. The warning addresses the risk of a kidney injury known as acute phosphate nephropathy.

FDA has also directed the makers of Visicol and OsmoPrep to

• develop a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy
• distribute a Medication Guide to alert patients to the risk of kidney injury
• conduct a postmarketing clinical trial to further assess this risk

Concerns With OTC Products Too

FDA is equally concerned about the risks associated with over-the-counter (OTC) OSP products (e.g., Fleet Phospho-soda) when they are used at higher doses for bowel cleansing.

The available data show no risk of acute kidney injury when OTC products are used at the lower doses as laxatives. But these products present the same risks as prescription OSP products when used for bowel cleansing.

FDA is recommending that consumers not use OTC OSP products for bowel cleansing. The agency plans to amend the labeling conditions for these products.

Safety Advice

OSP products should NOT be used

• by children under 18 years of age
• in combination with other laxative products containing sodium phosphate

OSP prescription products should be used with caution by people who are

• over 55 years of age
• suffering from dehydration, kidney disease, acute colitis, or delayed bowel emptying
• taking certain medicines that affect kidney function, including
  — diuretics (fluid pills)
  — angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (medications that lower blood pressure)
  — angiotensin receptor blockers (treatments for high blood pressure and heart or kidney failure)
  — possibly nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (similar to ibuprofen and other arthritis medications)

Serious side effects or quality problems associated with these products can be reported to FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm, or by mail, fax, or phone. (See FDA Press Release, available at the link below, for details.)

This article appears on FDA's Consumer Health Information Web page (www.fda.gov/consumer), which features the latest updates on FDA-regulated products. Sign up for free e-mail subscriptions at www.fda.gov/consumer/consumerenews.html.

For More Information

FDA Press Release
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01923.html

Date Posted: December 16, 2008