You probably know the feeling. You’re sitting on the toilet and its taking a while. So you reach for a 20 page Beano. You get through it and nothing. At this point, you reach out either for The Economist or a Cosmopolitan – they have more content. Depending on just how bad it is, you may or may not succeed. Constipation can be bad – for some people, it take up to 3 weeks to go for a number 2 (you should ideally go daily, at worst 3 times a week), and they are eating all their meals regularly. Though usually not painful, it will get uncomfortable at some point. You start to feel the extra weight, and you start to daydream about the moment you will be able to shed it off.
So what leads to constipation?
To understand it better, its better to first understand how your food moves through your system as soon as you eat it. It will go on into your stomach, get broken down by acids and then move on you your small intestines where it will then be absorbed through little hairs, called villi that line the entire small intestinal tract. The food, now mostly water matter moves on to the large intestine or colon, and at this time, water absorption takes place. Once water absorption has taken place, and the waste is sufficiently dry to be eliminated, a message is sent to your brain, and muscular contractions begin. That’s how you know you’re ready for a number 2.
At the colon, 2 things can happen that will cause constipation:
- Either too much water was absorbed into the body, leaving the resulting mass too dry and hard.
- Or your colon muscle movements are sluggish and not strong enough to compel stool to be expelled.
What causes the above 2 things to happen? In other words, what causes constipation?
- Lack of fibre in your diet. Think of fibre as the binding stuff that helps your stool to come together and be expelled. In fact, fibre has little other use in the body other than to assure regular bowel movements. If you eliminate fibre from your diet for any reason, you are likely to suffer constipation.
- Ageing – older people, especially because they don’t move around much, have a bunch of weak muscles and sphincters lying about in their bodies. This will lead to poor muscle movement even when a bowel movement is needed – the brain will receive the signal, but the body will not have sufficient energy to move the bowels properly.
- One of the commonest causes is ignoring the urge to have a bowel movement. Once your body receives the signal, you will be uncomfortable for a while, and then it will realize that you are not going and stop sending the signal. The result is that the waste gets overly dry, and will need that much more effort from your body to push it out.
- Some medications cause constipation. Antacids are well known for this. So are iron tablets, antidepressants, antispasmodics and anticonvulsant drugs. Especially with antacids, you should not take too many of them. As an aside, some antacids will cause you to have constipation, while others will cause you to have diarrhoea, depending on how much calcium and magnesium they contain. Always talk to your pharmacist about this.
- Not drinking enough water is another common cause of constipation. By the time your food gets to your colon, it barely has any water left in it, but the colon is still doing its job. The result of course, is constipation.
- Pregnancy, for reasons not so well explained, seems to cause most women to suffer constipation. It may be because the water intake required is for 2, but the mother is only drinking for herself.
- Less common and more serious are obstructions in the bowels. These may be caused by tumours, or gallstones, or even a twisted intestine. This will manifest with pain in the stomach and you should consult your doctor immediately.
- People who suffer problems with their thyroid gland may also suffer constipation. The thyroid produces lower than normal quantities of thyroxin, and this may lead to hard stools that are hard to expel.
- A change in lifestyle, travel or diet may also lead to constipation. Long distance travellers, especially those who take flights for many days may be familiar with the feeling. It will come about because you have been “living” on a plane for several days, eating a different diet and going through different kinds of weather as you moved from zone to zone.
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome can also cause constipation. Sufferers may have it both ways, such that at times they experience diarrhea and at other times constipation.
Almost every living person has suffered constipation at some point in their lives. Unless it’s a medical condition, you can make sure to stay regular by eating enough roughage, drinking lots of water, staying active, taking supplements such as probiotics. And when you do get the occasional bout of constipation, unless it comes accompanied by other complications, a natural laxative or home constipation remedies should be able to help you out.
references
WebMD Newsletter – http://www.emedicinehealth.com International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders – www.iffgd.org American Gastroenterological Association – www.gastro.org MedlinePlus – www.medlineplus.gov
