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The new ileostomate may find it difficult to believe that life without a colon can be completely healthy. To understand this, one needs to know what is the normal function of the colon or large bowel, which has been removed.
This organ is only found in land animals and its major function is to absorb water from the food residue. When animals first moved from the sea to the land, they moved from a world where water was plentiful to one where it might be very scarce, and they adapted to this by developing the colon as one means of avoiding dehydration. The only other substance that is absorbed from the colon is salt. All the other things we get from our food and which we need for energy and health are absorbed from the small intestine which is unaffected by the usual operations for ulcerative colitis.
People with an ileostomy get just as much from food—whether carbohydrates, fats or proteins—as anyone else. The other function of the colon is to act as a reservoir for the waste products of the body until there is a convenient moment for disposing of them. This function is simply taken over by the pouch whether external or internal.
(Dr. R.B. Kelleck, Great Britain)
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