Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site bbncc5.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!ihnp4!bbncc5!sdyer From: sdyer@bbncc5.UUCP (Steve Dyer) Newsgroups: net.med Subject: Re: dried fruit (actually laxatives) Message-ID: <406@bbncc5.UUCP> Date: Fri, 16-Aug-85 16:11:35 EDT Article-I.D.: bbncc5.406 Posted: Fri Aug 16 16:11:35 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 20-Aug-85 04:40:53 EDT References: <767@druak.UUCP> <323@bbncc5.UUCP> <1091@cbdkc1.UUCP> Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman, Cambridge, MA Lines: 46 > > I don't know what chemical is the active agent in prunes; > >there was a claim a while ago that oxyphenisatin, a prescription laxative, > >was somehow related to the agent in prunes > > Can't you deal with this on a factual basis, if people eat prunes it increases > the number of trips to the restroom. Prunes seem to be harmless and eating > them in excess seems to cause only more of the above condition. Why must you > find a chemical equivalent? There is none. Piffle. The original request to the net asked what the active agent was in prunes. If one were interested, one could certainly discover what substances contributed to the laxative effect. Then we could have de-laxatived prunes, much like decaffeinated coffee! :-) I'm joking. Really. > By the way most chemical laxitives (sic) work by irritating the bowel system. Yes, many do, for example phenolphthalein and bisacodyl and the aforementioned oxyphenisatin. But so do so-called "natural" substances like senna extract and castor oil. Drugs like magnesium salts and other saline laxatives draw water into the colon and stimulate activity that way. > >I might mention that the actual physical need for laxatives is far > >less that the amounts consumed by our society. > Actually the condition is very well documented and is most certainly something > to be concerned about. I will agree though that conventional doctors know > little about this condition or the problems it causes. > I would LOVE to know what problems constipation causes. I can only imagine the toxins which build up! In my own perverse way, I sometime enjoy going to shows like the "Whole Life Expo" which is held regularly in Boston. For those of you unfamilar with these shows, they are EXACTLY like computer fairs, but the vendors sell health. I turned down one aisle last year, and came across this robed young man who looked like the most sickly individual you ever saw--pale, drawn, thin hair, sunken eyes, old before his time. He was a TERRIBLE salesman for his "product", a book and associated apparatus for "colonic irrigation", a polite word for enema. Cleans the "toxins" out, you know. Now, I would never make a judgement on the contributions of colonic irrigation to health based on this one single observation of this poor, but enthusiastic guy-- unscientific, you know! -- /Steve Dyer {decvax,linus,ima,ihnp4}!bbncca!sdyer sdyer@bbnccv.ARPA