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Posts Tagged ‘medical treatments’

The most common form of constipation is known as idiopathic or functional constipation. This means that the cause is unclear, therefore the disease can only be defined by the symptoms that it displays. Very often, the first line treatment is high fiber therapy. However, in the cases that it doesn’t work (which is the majority), patients will often turn toward laxatives.

There seems to be widespread agreement among scientists and doctors that the judicious use of laxative constipation treatments is tolerated and safe. However, as some patients take such medications over extended periods, suspicions have surfaced about long-term side effects and problems. A result of these suspicions are some misconceptions about laxative use.

The incorrect or at least poorly conceived myths regarding laxative use can be divided into three kinds. The first kind concerns the idea that using laxatives causes nerves to become damaged in the colonic tract. THe second kind is related to the idea that laxatives are carcinogenic or mutagenic agents which give rise to cancer. THe third kind is about the idea of laxative “intolerance”, i.e. the efficacy wears off over time.

Regarding the first, evidence regarding nerve damage first came to light in studies of patients who were taking laxative constipation treatments for a long time and had discoloration in the lining of the bowel. In addition, these patients were found later to have intestinal nerve damage. However, early studies were not double-blinded and controlled, leading many researchers to believe that nerve damage and laxative use was a correlative rather than causal relationship. That is, people with constipation had a higher chance of having nerve damage already, regardless of whether they were taking laxatives.

With respect to the second, reports linking laxatives to cancer were suggested by experimentation on animals. Rats fed extreme doses of anthraquinones had higher mutations in cells, leading to cancer-like problems. But the studies were not easily translatable to the human context because the doses were very non-realistic. Similar studies with extreme concentrations of aspartame sweetener and peanut oils show a cancer link, but are rarely relevant for realistic human consumption.

Regarding the third, it seems that anecdotes from patients who were seeing decreased efficacy gave rise to the belief of laxative intolerance. However, studies both in rats and in paraplegic patients who had been on laxatives for as long as 34 years showed that the efficacy of laxatives remained more or less undiminished over these long times.

It would seem that laxatives should not be discounted for their great utility against constipation because of these misconceptions. Patients should continue to research for themselves and ally with their doctors to understand the evidence concerning laxative efficacy.

Discover the newest research and articles in regards to treatment of constipation. Additional resources provided for constipation natural remedies can be read here.