.Constipation Basics

.What is Constipation?

.What are Some of the Causes of Constipaton?

.Constipation in Children

.Constipation in Older Adults

.Diagnoising Constipation

.Treatment

.Laxative Types

Constipation Basics

.The frequency of bowel movements among healthy people varies from three movements a day to three a week.

.Individuals must determing what is normal for them

.As a rule, constipation should be suspected if more than three days pass between bowel movements, or if there is difficulty or pain when passing a hardened stool.

.Most people experience occasional short bouts of constipation. In the event a laxative is necessary for longer than three weeks, check with a doctor.

.Prevention is the best approach to constipation. While there is no way to ensure never experiencing constipation, the following guidelines should help:

.Know what is normal and do not rely unnecessarily on laxatives.

.Eat a well-balanced diet that includes unprocessed barn, whole-wheat grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables.

.Drink plenty of fluids.

.Exercise regularly.

.Set aside time after breakfast, or dinner for undisturbrd visits to the toilet.

.Do not ignore the urge to have a bowel movement.

.Whenever there is a significant or prolonged change in bowel habits, check with a doctor.

What is constipation?

Constipation is the infrequent and difficult passage of stool. The frequency of bowel movements among healthy people varies greatly, ranging fromthree movements a day to three per week.

As a rule, if more than three days pass without a bowel movement, the intestinal contents may harden, and a person may have difficulty or even pain during elimination.

Stool may harden and be painful to pass, however, even after short intervals between bowel movements. Straining during bowel movements or the feeling of incomplete evacuation may also be noted as constipation.

Common Misconceptions About Constipation

Many false beliefs exist concerning proper bowel habits. One of these is that a bowel movement every day is necessary. Another common fallacy is that wastes stored in the body are absorbed, and are dangerous to health or shorten the life span.

Such misconceptions have led to a marked overuse and abuse laxatives. Each year many millions dollars are spent on laxatives. Many are not needed, and routine use of some stimulant laxative can cause dependency.

Is Constipation Serious?

Although it may be extreamely bothersom, constipation itself is not serious. However, it may signal and be the only noticeable symptom of a serious underlying disorder such as Cancer.

Constipation can lead to complications, such as hemorrhoids caused by extreme straining or fissures caused by the hard stool stretching the sphincters.

Bleeding can occur for either of these reasons and appears as bright red streaks on the surface of the stool. Fissures may be quite painful and can aggravate the constipation that originally caused them.

Fecal inpactions tend to occur in very young children, and in older adults and may be accompanied by a loss of control stool, with liquid stoll flowing around the hard impaction.

Occasionally, straining causes a small amount of intestinal lining to push out from the rectal opening. This condition is known as rectal prolapse and may lead to secretion of mucus that may stain underwear. In children, mucus may be a feature of cystic fibrosis.

What are Some of the Causes of Constipation?

Constipation is a symptom, not a disease. Like a fever, constipation can be caused by many different conditions. Most people have experienced an occasional brif bout of constipation that has corrected itself with diet and time.

The following is a list of some of the most common causes of constipation:

.Poor Diet. A main cause of constipation may be a diet high in animal fat meats, dairy products, egs, and rich desserts and other sweets, nevertheless, low in fiber, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, especially insoluble dietary fiber,whichhelps move bulk through the intestines and promote bowel movements. Some studies have suggested that high-fiber diets results in larger stool, more frequent bowel movementsand, therefor, less constipation.

.Imaginary Constipation. This is very common and results from misconceptions about what is normal,and what is not. If recognized early enough, this type of constipation can be cured by informaing the sufferer that the frequency of his or her bowel movernments is normal.

.Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Also known as spastic colon,IBS is one of the most common causes of constipation in the U.S. Some people develop spasms of the colon that delay the speed with the contents of the intestine move through the digestive tract, leading to constipation.

.Poor Bowel Habits. A person can initiate a cycle of constipation by ignoring the urge to have a bowel movement. Some people do this to avoid using public toilets, others because they are too busy.

. After a period of time, a person may stop feeling the urge; this leads to progresive constipation.

.Laxative Abuse. People who habitually take stimulant laxative become dependent upon them and require increasing dosages until, finally, the intestine becomes insenstitive and fails to work properly.

.Travel. People often experience constipation when traveling long distances, which may relate to changes in lifestyle, schedule, diet and drinking water.

.Hormonial Disturbances. Certain hormonal disturbances, such as an underactive thyroid glan, can produce constipation

.Pregnancy. Pregnancy is another common cause of constipation,which may be partly due to hormonal changes during pregnancy.

.Fissures and Hemorrhoids. Painful conditions of the anus can produce a spasm of the anal sphincter muscle, which can delay a bowel movement.

.Specific Diseases. Many diseases that affect the body tissues, such as scleroderma or lupus, and certain neurological or muscular dieases, such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and stroke, can be responsible for constipation.

.Loss of Body Salts. The loss of body salts through the kidneys or through vomiting or diarrhea is another cause of constipation.

.Mechanical Compression. Scarring, inflammation around diverticula,tumors and cancer can produce mechanical compression of the intestine and result in constipation.

.Nerve Damage. Injuries to the spinal cord and tumors pressing on the spinal cord can produce constipation by affecting the nerves that lead to the intestine.

.Medications. Many medications can cause constipation; these include pain medications, especially narcotics, antacids that contain aluminum or calcium, antispasmodic drugs, antidepressant drugs, tranquilizers, iron supplements, anticonvulsants for epilepsy, antiparkinsonism drugs and calcium channel blockers for high blood pressure and heart conditions.

.Colonic Motility Disorder. The peristaltic activity of the intestine may be ineffective resulting in colonic inertia or outlet obstruction.