Bad Breath - Perhaps an Ileocecal Valve Syndrome

The ileocecal valve (ICV) is an extremely important valve which is located between the small intestine and the large intestine. It is supposed to work as a shunt valve opening and closing as designed. However, in many individuals, much to their detriment, it operates improperly by opening and closing without purpose.

The primary concern of the ileocecal valve us to disallow waste products that have been stored in the large intestine (better known as the garbage area), to regurgitate back into the small intestine, or "kitchen" area. The valve therefore acts like a garbage can cover. When the valve operates normally, food that has been utilized in the "kitchen area" of the bowel (small intestine) is then shunted into the "garbage" area of the bowel for eventual removal. But when the valve does not function properly, or loses the tonicity required to remain tightly closed, waste products from the large intestine are allowed to re-enter the small intestine. As these products of waste are now toxic to the body, and as the small intestine is an area of rich blood supply, these toxic wastes are absorbed into the blood stream very readily, thus creating a condition of the blood known as toxemia.

These toxins then circulate through the body, and very often will present themselves at areas of muscle stress, such as sudden pain in the lower back region when the patient is bending or lifting. Or, the patient who has worked the upper extremities and suddenly is subjected with intense shoulder pain. Some of the other symptoms displayed can be halitosis (bad breath), heart fluttering, and even chest pain. When examined by their doctor, the symptoms do not prove to be at all related to their heart. Morning headaches, which are evident upon arising, seem to go away. But there is another, even more disastrous effect of this syndrome. the insidious destruction of the organs of the body that filter the toxins out of the bloodstream. In other words, the liver, spleen, and kidneys are always working to filter these poisons out of our bloodstream, and the intermittent accumulation of these toxins in these organs eventually damages them severely.

Therefore, it can now be more easily seen why the ileocecal valve must work properly. I review with my patients a simple procedure that should, after my initial treatment, allow the valve to work properly - a bit of at home therapy if you will.

"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth."
-Marcus Aurelius