So when is a trip to the candy counter a cure for a common problem that costs the country millions in healthcare dollars and gets patients out of the hospital days earlier?

It’s when you buy a pack of gum of course!

It might sound weird, but chewing gum has just been shown to help many surgery patients.

Yes, there’s Pfizer, Glaxo, Bristol Myer’s Squibb…and…the William Wrigley Jr. Company?

The latest research suggests that good old chewing gum can have the impact on American healthcare that a pharmaceutical product might have.

The message, from a study in the latest archives of surgery, is that patients after surgery--especially those who have had colon surgery--would do well to grab a piece of gum.

It doesn’t matter if it’s minty or fruity.
It doesn’t matter if it’s bubble or bubble free.

Just chew!

Why?

Because of a problem…called postoperative ileus.

This is when the colon shuts down and kind of goes to sleep, and doesn’t work for up to a week. It’s in part due to anesthesia, in part due to simply manipulating the intestines during surgery.

Patients can’t go home after an operation until the gut does work.

“You get blown up, your belly gets bigger, you can feel nauseated, you can have belching, sometimes even vomiting which is very unpleasant particularly after a major abdominal operation,” says Dr. Harris.

21 year old Gillian Harris just had much of her colon removed--and had postoperative ileus.

Sot gillian harris/colon surgery patient
“it stinks…symptoms….”

So doctors sometimes use what’s called NG—or nasogastric tubes to relieve the pressure, and suck backwards. But, the trick is to get that gut going, to wake it up.

And this latest study shows gum chewing does just that…and as a result, shortens hospital stays by more than two days!

“The act of chewing stimulates a reflex that allows the intestine to wake up faster,” says Dr. Harris.

So if you go to Wrigley’s site, they have a whole section on the health benefits of chewing gum, including improving concentration and easing tension.

Maybe they can now proudly add: a cost-effective cure for postoperative ileus.

SOT GILLIAN HARRIS/COLON SURGERY PATIENT
“I WOULD HAVE USED IT.”

“There certainly is no harm from it, and I think if we find that it does make a difference I think we’ll be using it more,” Dr. Harris states.

The question is: how many sticks of gum does it take to meet my insurance’s deductible?

The fact is, if every colectomy patient--which is when the colon is removed--chewed gum postoperatively in the u.s., the study says that alone would save the healthcare system more than 118 million dollars annually.

Related Stories

 - Virtual Colonoscopy
 - What is Gastroenterology?
 - What is Cancer and How it is Caused