What is Constipation?
Constipation is the name given to infrequent or difficult
bowel movements. In the United Kingdom, 4 out of 10 people consider themselves constipated
and use laxatives on a regular basis. However, 85% of the population report that they have
sluggish bowel movements.
In a healthy person the bowels should pass a motion at
least once a day, and naturopaths suggest that we should have one bowel motion for each
meal. When we are constipated the water in the faeces is re-absorbed by the body causing
the stools to harden in the colon. Eventually, the colon loses its muscle tone and the
condition becomes chronic.
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Symptoms
Symptoms associated with constipation include infrequent bowel
movements, hard stools, straining when passing a motion, cramps, abdominal bloating,
flatulence, with a desire to defecate but an inability to pass a stool. Related symptoms
include headaches, halitosis, coated tongue, pale complexion, and dizziness.
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Known Causes
It is the peristaltic action - involuntary contraction of the
intestinal walls - that moves faeces through the colon. If the peristaltic action is weak
or in severe cases does not occur at all, constipation results.
In acute constipation the causes can be simply a matter of
eating concentrated foods that swell in the body (eg. bread and oats) with insufficient
water. However, the causes may also be fairly serious including an obstruction in the
bowel, insufficient bile secretion by the liver, lack of peristalsis due to nerve
paralysis, drug toxicity and infections.
Chronic constipation often results from a low fibre diet,
poor muscle tone due to lack of exercise, obesity, stress, nerve dysfunction and habitual
use of laxatives. However, research has shown that the most important factor in chronic
constipation is diet.
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Conventional Treatment
Medical treatment tends to focus on the symptoms using
purgatives and laxatives. This often brings about short term relief but can lead to the
problem becoming a chronic condition.
It is vitally important to isolate and identify the
possible causes in each individual case before selecting the most appropriate remedy. A
full physical examination by your health practitioner is therefore advisable in all cases
of chronic constipation.
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