Various Classes Of Relief For Constipation

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A very recent study done by the drug company Boehringer Ingelheim has established the fraction of people worldwide affected by constipation to be 12%. A total of 13,000 people were surveyed. Other studies quote lower figures (as low as 2%!) but nevertheless even at this low figure, most of the medical establishment would agree that constipation is a widespread affliction.

One of the problems associated with statistical surveying of constipation is that it's a poorly defined condition. This translates into an impact on diagnosis and treatment. For example, one physician might believe that having a bowel movement every three days is ok, but another physician would be alarmed at the low frequency. The source of the inconsistent opinions is that bowel movement frequency is itself highly variable from person to person. This difficulty in definition is compounded by differences in patient-reported symptoms such as difficulty or pain in passing stool, or excessive time spend on the toilet.

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Diagnosis of disease is followed by the monumental goal of pinning down the primary cause in each patient. Diagnosis is easy if there are many other tell-tale signs, such as those found in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. In another subgroup, patients may suffer from nerve and muscle damage that are the culprits of constipation. But for a very large group, physicians will be unable to find a cause. In this large group, the condition is simply called "idiopathic constipation".

The first step a patient diagnosed with idiopathic constipation might take is high fiber therapy, whether or not the patient's self-reported intake of fiber seems to be sufficient. The reason for this is that high fiber therapy is accessible and gentle on the patient. There are two ways to carry out the treatment, one by increasing intake of foods high in insoluble fiber, the other by dosing with specific amounts of fiber supplements. The advantage of high fiber therapy is that the success of the therapy also confirms the diagnosis.

There are several other natural remedies which are not fiber-related, examples of which are anthraquinone herbs such as senna. However, one should never succumb to the idea that a natural treatment is a safe one automatically. The Federal Drug Agency (FDA) recently forced some natural remedies off the market for safety reasons. As a result, manufacturers can no longer market aloe vera and cascara medications as constipation remedies. Nevertheless, other remedies are available.

One other option is therapy via one of the many prescription drugs for constipation. A number of these overlap with over-the-counter laxatives. A very small handful are advanced, "targeted" drugs which affect the digestive tract in specific ways. In recent times, unique approaches such as electrode-assisted biofeedback have been studied as possible medical therapies. The field of constipation remedies seems poised for great changes in the coming decade.

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