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Mucoid plaque

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Mucoid plaque or mucoid rope is a term used by some alternative medicine websites and books to describe an allegedly harmful mucus-like material that is said to coat the gastrointestinal tracts of most people. The term was coined by Richard Anderson, a naturopath and entrepreneur who sells a range of products that claim to cleanse the body of such plaques.[1]

The existence of mucoid plaque has been dismissed by physicians as having no anatomical or physiological basis.[2][3][4] Mucoid plaque is predominantly discussed within the complementary and alternative medicine community, particularly in anecdotal accounts of colon hydrotherapy procedures. [5]

History

In 1932, Bastedo, M.D. writes in the Journal of the American Medical Association his observation of a colon irrigation procedure: “When one sees the dirty gray, brown or blackish sheets, strings and rolled up wormlike masses of tough mucus with a rotten or dead-fish odor that are obtained by colon irrigations, one does not wonder that these patients feel ill and that they obtain relief and show improvement as the result of the irrigation.”[6]

Before Richard Anderson, the most prominent alternative medicine practitioners to talk about the concept have preferred various names. Robert Gray[7] referred to it as mucoid matter, Victor Earl Irons[8] and Bernard Jensen[9] referred to it as toxic mucous lining or layer, and John R. Christopher[10] referred to it as catarrh or simply mucus.


Claims

The term "mucoid plaque" was coined by Richard Anderson, a naturopath and entrepreneur whose products purport to remove mucoid plaque. Anderson explains that it is a term he coined to describe a "gel-like, viscous and slimy mucus that forms as a layer or layers covering epithelium cells in various hollow organs, especially all the organs of the alimentary canal."[11]

Anderson claims that mucoid plaque is created when the body produces mucus to protect itself from potentially toxic substances. Anderson further claims that mucoid plaque acts as a health threat by reducing the absorption of nutrients, impairing digestion, causing sugar intolerance, providing a haven for parasitic microorganisms, promoting the development of cancer, causing skin conditions and allergies, and reducing bowel transit time . Anderson further claims that removing this protective layer is beneficial to health.[12]

Anderson's Research

Anderson claims that “clinical and anatomical studies from many papers and textbooks have demonstrated that mucoid plaque exists in the alimentary canal.” [13] To support his claim, he cites, among other things, a scanning electron microscope study, which says that “a rather thick layer of mucus” can be clearly seen in the small intestines of children with chronic diarrhea and food intolerance. [14]

He also explains that disorders and physiological entities that the medical community has identified as separate – i.e. amyloidosis, gastric metaplasia, hypertrophia, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal lymphangiectasia, malacoplakia, mucin, mucoviscoidosis, polypus, villous adenoma – are, according to him, "varying aspects" of mucoid plaque.[12] In reference to metaplasia and dysplasia, Anderson clarifies that mucoid plaque, itself, cannot become cancerous, but it may “stimulate” cancer growth and become intermingled with it.[15]

As evidence that mucoid plaque has been around even before his cleanse, he points out a photograph of a “particularly bizarre stool” from a young woman with irritable bowel syndrome on page 155 of a conventional medical book Color Atlas of the Digestive System (1989).[16]

Finally, Anderson says that if anybody still doubts the mucoid plaque theory, endoscopy plates numbers 27, 31, 46, 63, and 66 in Clinical Gastroenterology by Howard Spiro (4th edition) “show obvious mucoid plaque that cannot be denied by anyone.” [17]


The Medical Community

A 2004 paper by Soergel, Tse and Slaughter on the relationship between lay and medical language uses "mucoid plaque" as an example of "non-credible concepts" used by healthcare consumers.[2]

Edward Uthman, a practicing pathologist and Adjunct Professor of Pathology at the University of Texas School of Medicine, has said on the basis of having examined several thousand intestinal biopsies: "This is a complete fabrication with no anatomic basis."[3]

Another practicing pathologist, Ed Friedlander of Brown University, states, "As a pathologist, I have opened hundreds of colons and never seen anything like 'toxic bowel settlement'." Furthermore, in reference to purported photos of expelled mucoid plaque, he writes, "Sites they have shared include one depicting what I recognize to be a blood clot."[4]


See also

References

  1. ^ Anderson, Richard. Cleanse & Purify Thyself Book Two. Christobe Publishing, 2000 page 59
  2. ^ a b "Helping Healthcare Consumers Understand: An "Interpretive Layer" for Finding and Making Sense of Medical Information" (PDF). MedInfo2004. IOS Press, Amsterdam. Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  3. ^ a b Mucoid Plaque. Edward Uthman, M.D. Accessed 21 Feb 2007.
  4. ^ a b Ed’s Guide to Alternative Therapies: Colonics. Ed Friedlander, M.D. Accessed 21 Feb 2007.
  5. ^ "Cold turkey: imagine spending Christmas at the world's toughest detox resort", by Hannah Borno. Published online by the Daily Mail. Accessed 21 Feb 2007.
  6. ^ Bastedo, WA. “Colonic irrigations: their administration, therapeutic application and dangers”. JAMA (1932) v98 p736.
  7. ^ Gray, Robert. The Colon Health Handbook. 1990
  8. ^ V. Earl Irons, Sr. The Destruction of Your Own Natural Protective Mechanism
  9. ^ Jensen, Bernard. Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management. 1981.
  10. ^ Christopher, John. Dr. Christopher’s Three-Day Cleansing Program, Mucusless Diet and Herbal Combinations. 1995
  11. ^ Anderson, Richard. Cleanse & Purify Thyself Book Two. Christobe Publishing, 2000 page 59
  12. ^ a b Colon Plaque - Mucoid Plaque, by Richard Anderson, from his website cleanse.net. Accessed 21 Feb 2007.
  13. ^ Anderson, Richard. Cleanse & Purify Thyself Book Two. Christobe Publishing, 2000 page 60
  14. ^ Anderson, Richard. Cleanse & Purify Thyself Book One. Christobe Publishing, 2000 pages 36 and 38.
  15. ^ Anderson, Richard. Cleanse & Purify Thyself Book Two. Christobe Publishing, 2000 page 79
  16. ^ FAQ’S, by Richard Anderson, from his website cleanse.net. Accessed 5 Nov 2008.
  17. ^ Anderson, Richard. Cleanse & Purify Thyself Book Two. Christobe Publishing, 2000 page 88
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