Constipation, apart from causing discomfort to the sufferer, predisposes them to numerous diseases. Sometimes, sudden constipation that comes without any rhyme or reason could signal certain serious illnesses like tumor in the digestive tract. In either case, constipation should not be ignored. In most cases, lifestyle irregularities lead to the development of constipation. Preventive measures need to be taken in the day-to-day life, such as adding more fiber to your diet or taking dietary fiber supplements.
Constipation refers to hard bowel movements that are difficult to pass. If you have bowel movements fewer than 3 times a week, you are said to be constipated. When you don't pass bowels regularly, the liquids along with the toxins get reabsorbed into the blood stream and carried to all parts of the body. This leads to development of different diseases, if constipation continues unchecked.
Types of Constipation
There are 3 types of constipation normally seen. They are acute, chronic, and severe.
- Acute Constipation: Sudden changes in bowel movements, leaving you constipated, could signal some serious intestinal problems, like colon tumors. This requires urgent medical attention.
- Chronic Constipation: If it is a long-term issue, it is called chronic constipation. This could be due to lack of physical activities, and faulty food habits.
- Severe Constipation: When you have less than one bowel movement per week, it is a severe case of constipation, wherein immediate attention is required to empty the bowel using enema.
Causes of Constipation
Constipation occurs when the muscle contractions become slow or inefficient as well as excess re-absorption of water into the colon takes place. The reasons could be many, such as:
- Lack of exercise
- Irregular diet patterns
- Low-fiber diet
- Low intake of water
- Regular intake of strong tea and coffee
- Ignoring the urge to have a bowel movement
- Presence of tumors or hemorrhoids
- Emotional disturbance and stressful life
- Factors like pregnancy, aging, and travel that brings about a change of routine
- Intake of antidepressants, opioids, diuretics, antihistamines, antispasmodics, anticonvulsants, or aluminum-containing antacids
- Dehydration
- Strokes
- Colon and rectal problems
- Abnormality in the intestinal function
Symptoms of Constipation
The following manifestations could signal the presence of constipation in an individual:
- Delay and difficulty in bowel movements
- Infrequent urge to pass stool
- Passing hard stool after prolonged straining
- Lower abdominal cramps
- Presence of mouth ulcers
- Foul breath
- Sensation or presence of nausea and vomiting
- Experiencing headaches
- Whitish coating on the tongue
- Dullness of the skin
- Excessive gas formation
- Bad taste in the mouth
Category of People Normally Affected by Constipation
Constipation is mostly seen in the following category of people:
- People over 65 years
- Pregnant or lactating women
- Frequent travelers
- People with sedentary lifestyles
- Junk food lovers
- Lack of adequate fluid intake
- Anti-hypertensive, narcotics, and sedative medications
- People undergoing chemotherapy
- Bed-ridden patients
Diagnostic Procedures
When you have unexplained causes of constipation, your doctor may advise you to take certain diagnostic tests, after a routine physical examination. Some of the diagnostic tools of constipation are:
- Examining a stool sample under a microscope
- Complete blood count (CBC) and blood film
- Thyroid function tests (to rule out hypothyroidism)
- Upright plain X-ray of the chest and abdomen (to rule out intestinal obstruction)
- Barium enema (to rule out disease of the colon)
- Assessment of the duration of time taken by food to pass through the intestine
- Sigmoidoscopy: This is carried out by inserting a flexible instrument with illumination (sigmoidoscope) through the anus. This helps detect any abnormalities in the rectum and lower colon.
- Colonoscopy: A colonoscope is used to detect abnormalities in the colon. Serious disorders can be ruled out using this method (After all, it may be just irritable bowel syndrome that was causing the constipation!). This may sometimes be followed by a tissue biopsy to confirm the diagnosis.
Treatment Methodologies
- Dietary Changes: People prone to constipation should include plenty of fiber in their food (at least 20 to 35 g of fiber). Whole grains, beans, bran cereals, fresh fruits, and vegetables such as cabbage and carrots should be part of your daily diet. Limiting ice cream, cheese, meat, and processed foods is also important as these have very less or no fiber. Drink water, fluids, and clear soups.
- Lifestyle Modifications: Incorporate regular exercise into your daily routine. Exercise stimulates the intestinal activity. Finding sufficient and fixed time for bowel movements is also very crucial.
- Laxatives: Laxatives should be taken when diet and lifestyle modifications fail to give you results. There are many laxatives available in the market.
- Bulk-forming laxatives: These increase the bulk of the stool. When taking these, you must drink plenty of water.
- Stimulants: Cause rhythmic contractions in the intestine.
- Osmotic: They cause rhythmic contractions in the intestine, facilitating stool movement.
- Stool softeners: They soften the otherwise hard stools.
- Lubricants: Lubricates and enables easy passage of stool.
- Saline laxative: This acts like a sponge and draws water into the colon.
- Other Medications: Some other medications that help in relieving constipation are 5-HT-4 agonists and chloride channel activators.
- Surgery: In severe and chronic constipation cases, sometimes a surgery is warranted to correct rectal and anal causes of constipation.
General Prevention Methods of Constipation
- It is often seen that people, due to lack of time, ignore the urge to have a bowel movement. This should be avoided.
- Set aside a fixed time to have a bowel movement. Some say that just before dawn is a good time. Some people may find it convenient to go after breakfast. Whatever may the convenient time, just stick to that.
- Eat more fiber. Adding a fiber supplement or ground flaxseed to your diet helps with constipation immensely.
- Drink at least 8 glasses of fluids a day (including water). Other fluids like juices or clear soups can also be had.
- Limit chronic usage of laxatives, as it may damage your bowels and may actually make constipation worse.
- Exercise more often. Incorporating a walk of at least 30 to 45 minutes or a yoga session is highly recommended.
- Reduce drastically the intake of foods that are high in fat and sugar, as these may cause constipation. Examples of such foods are sweets, cheese, and processed foods.
Constipation affects the normal working of an individual. It will make them sluggish apart from giving them bloated feeling and headaches. Thus, to feel energetic and lively, one needs to have regular bowel movements.
