Originally published July 31 2005
New statistics show digestive system problems are a big killer in Britain
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Scotsman reports that new government numbers show deaths from digestive illnesses -- including colon cancer, liver disease, pancreatitis and diverticular disease -- total 12 percent of all UK deaths, and the British Government set about raising awareness by declaring last week National Gut Week.
New government statistics show that diseases from the digestive tract account for one in eight deaths in Britain and that deaths from digestive illnesses including colon cancer, liver disease, pancreatitis and diverticular disease total 12 per cent of all UK deaths.
Problems with the gut also account for one in eight of all hospital admissions and one in four main operations.
The health campaign is aimed at raising awareness of digestive health and highlighting the idea that good health begins on the inside.
"So-called normal digestion is not healthy digestion," she says.
These are symptoms of digestive systems struggling to cope, and we ignore them at our peril."
Of course it does seem that there are just as many ads on telling us to drink Swedish-sounding yoghurt drinks full of "friendly bacteria", but they are just not hitting home.
According to London-based gastric expert Dr Patricia MacNair, it is people's lack of understanding that often is to blame for potentially fatal digestive diseases later in life.
We need to nurture our gut just as we look after our skin or teeth."
But diseases of the digestive tract are much more complex than constipation - which actually affects three million people a month in the UK - and diarrhoea.
The most common complaints are IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) which is estimated to affect a third of people in Britain, inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's or ulcerative colitis, which affects 150,000 people in the UK, and coeliac disease, which again affects one in every 1000 people.
Beth Rankin, from Currie, is only ten years old but already she has to bypass her favourite foods such as bread, crisps, cakes and biscuits and watch her diet to avoid serious health problems, including cancer.
Beth began feeling unwell when she was only three, suffering from regular stomach upsets.
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