Nutrimed Labs: CONSTIPATION

Condition: CONSTIPATION

SUGGESTED NUTRITION:

Pro Dophilus #962
1/2 teaspoon daily. Provides intestinal flora to normalize the colon.

Nutri-Fiber #847
2 teaspoons daily. Provides both fiber and bulk for the digestive tract.

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PATHOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS:

Normal bowel movements become hampered because the storage, transporting and evacuating mechanisms of the colon become deranged either by systemic disorders, hypercalcemia, debilitating infections, uremia, hypothyroidism, or porphyria. Acute constipation can represent an emergency, as in obstruction, while the chronic type may be involved wiah extraintestinal problems as cerebral thrombosis, spinal cord injuries, tumors, etc.

PHYSIOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS:

There are four types of constipation. Upper tract type is usually associated with upper gastrointestinals problems, due to such things as depression, anorexia, disorders of chewing and swallowing, or even decrease in food intake. The most common type is rectal constipation where the person is too busy or distracted to be aware of nature's call to evacuate. A bolus may be produced which is hard to move and dried fecal material becomes lodged and difficult to move. Hemorrhoids, fissures and other painful rectal irritations may make the patient avoid defecation because of pain. The third type is hypertonic constipation which may develop into irritable bowel syndrome, and the fourth type is hypotonic constipation which may be associated with primary or secondary neuromuscular disorders of the colon.

TREATMENT:

The physician must first exclude serious disease through proctoscopic and rectal examination, and possibly a low barium enema. Then he is able to reassure the patient and advise in regard to defecatory habits. The psychological needs of the patient must be considered, and efforts made not to accuse the patient of an obsessive-compulsive attitude towards daily bowel movements, but to let nature take its course in daily bowel activity.