The herb senna has been used as a laxative or anti-constipation agent for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years. It is found in temperate zones, a...
The herb senna has been used as a laxative or anti-constipation agent for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years. It is found in temperate zones, and written records in the Middle East date back hundreds of years detailing its use in the form of a brewed tea for fighting stomach troubles. Senna is used even now although it comes in more diverse forms such as pills or tablets. The tea form is still available of course.
One question on everyone’s minds is whether senna is a worthy competitor to the other constipation remedies. However, senna does not have the privilege to be an interesting object of study for drug companies because it cannot be protected by a patient as it is a natural, noninvented substance. So the question as to whether it shows activity or not is left up to scientific studies as well as anecdotal evidence.
The verdict is that anecdotes as well as small scale science studies vindicate senna’s role as a natural laxative for constipation remedies. The key to senna’s efficacy lies in the preponderance of the sennoside compounds, which are a group of related chemicals that induce bowel movements. Despite senna’s success as a natural agent, some people may feel that they want more opinions in combating idiopathic chronic constipation. Are other treatments available.
Fortunately for those who actively seek remedies, several non-prescription strategies and a number of medicated methods are available. The standard line of therapy suggested by physicians without other information is high fiber therapy. Such therapy involves targeting every day foods with high fiber or consuming nutritional supplements containing fiber.
Some might judge the effort to eat fiber-rich foods to be excessive. A widely taken approach is to try out fiber supplements. Extracted from specialized plants like the plantago, these nutritional agents are offered in powdered form and are put into with liquid water to form a quaffable solution. As is common with diet treatments, it may require about half a month until the sufferer and his or her physician are able to assess success.
A number of laxatives are used by sufferers with chronic constipation. Prime examples of classes of these compounds are the osmotic laxatives that effect alterations in water resorption, and stimulant laxatives that appear to impact intestinal smooth muscle. Osmotic laxatives exert the increased water content in the gut which from medical reports apparently can assist in natural intestinal contractions.
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We all realize that mosquitoes are a nuisance. None of us likes being bitten by them. Most people say ‘bitten’ although this not accurate. ‘Stung’ is also not factual. What the mosquito is really doing is taking some of your protein in the form of blood though her proboscis, so that her eggs will have something to feed upon while they are developing.
In effect, your blood is providing the albumen (the ‘white’) of the mosquitoes’ eggs. It therefore follows that it is only the female mosquito that ‘bites’. In the course of sucking your blood, the mosquito squirts some juices into you. It is not fully understood what these juices contain, but one is an anti-coagulant to keep your blood flowing and another might be a pain-killer so you do not feel the proboscis going into your pore. Some think that there might also be an antiseptic, but it is not agreed by every one.
Some mosquitoes also inject other parasites into you, which can cause diseases like malaria, dengue, yellow fever and Japanese jungle encephalopathy. Mosquitoes are responsible for killing millions of people every year. Luckily the liquid that they inject comes from another source other than where they store the blood they have already taken, otherwise they could spread AIDS as well.
Having said all that, another indirect cause for alarm is in the deterrence of mosquito bites. The single most effective method of preventing mosquitoes landing on you is spreading mosquito repellent on your skin, and the most effective mosquito repellents contain DEET. However, it is now considered that the frequent use of DEET can cause neurological issues. Consequently, it worth looking for natural mosquito repellents.
Unfortunately, there is no mosquito repellent as reliable as DEET, but some combinations of treatments are nearly as effective. For example, some people say that mosquitoes are drawn to people who have eaten bananas, so you could avoid bananas if you are near mosquitoes. Others say that mosquitoes are less likely to go for people who have eaten garlic or Yeastvite or Bovril.
Mosquitoes abhor the smell of lemons, so a local application of lemon juice is very efficient although the effect only lasts about thirty or forty minutes. However, there is a plant called the citronella and this deters mosquitoes equally as well. The citronella does not smell of lemons unless it is disturbed, but then it is very aromatic.
Grow them in pots on your window cills, on your deck or on your patio. The wind blowing through them is enough to release the odour. You can also collect the dead leaves and put them in your pillow. You could also rub green leaves directly onto your skin.
There are quite a few natural mosquito repellents, but they do not all work for everybody and nobody knows why. One theory is that diet and alcohol affect your attraction to mosquitoes. It is also possible that mosquitoes in different areas like different types of people, so it is always worth asking for local advice.
Owen Jones writes pieces on several topics, but is now involved with devices and static units at s.
There is a reason why constipation remedies are amongst the most popular over-the-counter (OTC) medications. It has been estimated that approximately 10-30% of the U.S. population suffers from this ailment, and most people do not see a physician. Those who do receive some help, but given that there is disagreement even among physicians as to what constitutes constipation, the efficacy of medical advice varies. Even effectiveness of medication is nonuniform from patient to patient.
A non-profit organization known as Rome published a set of criteria pertaining to chronic constipation. Although not uniformly followed, many consider this set of criteria to be the gold standard in diagnosing what is commonly known as idiopathic constipation (without known cause). Physicians and patients would benefit from looking up the guidelines and explanations in the Rome publications. They help dispel some misunderstandings about what it means to be constipated.
Even if a patient is diagnosed properly, there are no standard constipation treatments. This is because most constipation is of unknown origin. Diseases without known origin are known as “idiopathic”, and can be treated only in a general way which may not target the underlying problem. People with idiopathic constipation constitute about 70% of all patients.
For those selecting the best treatment method, a number of non-prescription paths and a number of pharmaceutical strategies are available. Amongst the non-pharmaceutical methods, foremost is increased fiber therapy. Such therapy involves eating a lot of typical foods that are fiber-rich or taking in nutritional supplements containing fiber.
Some may reach the conclusion that the time required to attain a sufficient fiber diet becomes overwhelming. One solution to this problem is to take a look at psyllium nutritional supplements. Psyllium comes in the form of powders that are mixed with water to make convenient drinks. Primary care givers suggest that the timing given to this sort of intense fiber therapy usually requires around ten to fourteen days for its complete effectiveness to kick in.
There are many laxatives in use by patients with constipation. A pair of such medications are stimulating and osmotic agents. Osmotic agents absorb water out of the internal tissue into the intestinal lumen which promotes acceleration of transit of contents. Stimulating laxatives make the intestine increase its activity.
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Chronic constipation is an affliction that is believed to affect around 20% of the total population here in the U.S. Most of the sufferers experience a particular form known as idiopathic constipation. The fancy term means nothing other than “that without known cause”. Our lack of knowledge is not coincidental, for we understand little about the biological, hereditary and diet-related causes of constipation.
Our ignorance is one reason why there are so many constipation treatments. Some of these are pharmacological (e.g. bulk and osmotic laxatives), some are “natural”, and others are not reputable at all. Associated with these treatments are a host of myths associated with constipation. These myths usually try to explain constipation in terms of our day-to-day activities and habits.
For example, one particular myth is that walking can help constipation because it stimulates the muscles that push food along the gastrointestinal tract. The constipated, slow movement is due to lack of physical activity. However a controlled study by some academics at a UC Irvine laboratory showed that there was no difference in constipation between a group that exercised an hour a day for 6 weeks versus a group that did not. Most people exercise less than an hour a day.
A second myth is that adding more fiber to the diet can cure constipation. The myth sounds quite reasonable as fiber is one of the major nutrients promoted by the FDA. Unfortunately, a review by researchers Fox-Orenstein and co-workers demonstrated that fiber therapy worked in about a third of all people. While normal amounts of fiber are necessary, for the large part constipation sufferers already get that amount and have constipation for other reasons.
There is also a myth that drinking more water helps “bulk” up stool which reduces constipation. But this is also revealed to be a myth by a recent physician review (Muller-Lissner et al) that showed numerous studies that drinking the 8 or more recommended glasses of water each day had little to no impact on constipation. These physicians did point out that truly dehydrated people may suffer from constipation, but for most of us water is not the reason for our elimination problems.
Finally, there are many advertisements that advocate colon cleansing as a way to holistically and naturally remove toxins from the body that can cause constipation. There is virtually no evidence for this claim. In fact, the American Cancer Society as well as several other medical associations have spoken out explicitly against claims made by many manufacturers of the efficacy of colon cleansing.
We are lucky that many of the myths are largely harmless. The first three considered here, walking and running, ingesting fiber and taking in more water are not harmful to the body in moderation.
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People often wonder about natural versus non-natural medical treatments. Non-natural treatments are typically formulated by a pharmaceutical or biotechnology company and have passed through stringent FDA trials to establish their efficacy. Some medications that go through this process are universally effective, whereas others only work for a certain segment of the population. Therefore the question for a patient is whether he or she fits into the responsive segment of the population.
For natural medications things become even more difficult to understand. First of all, most natural treatments have not gone through clinical trials. This is because it is expensive to design, set up and run a trial, and there are few companies willing to spend money on something that is not patentable. Natural products are not “invented” in the normal sense, and therefore do not enjoy the lucrative protective of a patent-based monopoly.
The verdict for natural medications rests upon two pieces of knowledge: one must establish whether the natural agent is broadly useful for any ailment in question, and also whether it is useful for a particular patient. Fortunately there are real examples of natural agents that have been shown to confer some benefit through years of research. These include vitamin D for certain kinds of cancer, green tea and omega 3 fatty acids for controlling cholesterol. On the other hand, there are agents that have been shown to have little benefit despite widespread public recognition. These include goji berries and acai berries, as well as copper and vitamin A.
So it is clear that there really is a very broad spectrum useful and useless drugs, with no clear pattern that one can tell by their popularity (all natural treatments mentioned above are wildly popular) nor by their accepted status as a biological compound (e.g. vitamin D is useful for ailments but A is not). In the following we discuss a few natural treatments that have been shown to be at least somewhat useful for people suffering from constipation.
Amongst the non-medication remedies, the first is increased fiber therapy. A plausible path to put into action this line of therapy is to emphasize grains and fruits with the most fiber content. Prunes are a great choice, carrying not only fiber but also sorbitol which has beneficial effects.
Some might judge the focus to find fiber-rich foods to be draining. A reasonable answer to this issue is to take a look at psyllium nutritional supplements. These are pulverized grain that are liquified with water to make convenient drinks. As is true with supplement-based treatments, it might require approximately half a month until the constipated subject and his primary care doctor can judge efficacy.
There are many laxatives in use by people with constipation. The best specimens of these compounds are the osmotic laxatives which exert their effects through modulation in water absorption, and stimulant laxatives that seem to impact intestinal smooth muscle. Osmotic laxatives have the effect of increasing water retention in the gastrointestinal tract which from small studies reports apparently is able to assist in movement of intestinal matter.
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The label most associated with constipation is the word ‘idiopathic’, which simply means ‘that which does not have a known cause’. Patients who suffer from constipation do have a number of options if they wish to diagnose constipation. However, many of these methods are narrow in scope and cannot diagnose all causes of constipation generally.
For example, the simplest way to diagnose constipation is via something called high fiber treatment. A positive response to treatment both suggests the underlying cause (insufficient dietary fiber) and the cure at the same time. People who are luckily enough to respond to high fiber therapy can modulate the diet with their physicians to find an optimal balance.
However, it is far more likely that the patient does not respond to this kind of therapy which has been shown to work for only about two thirds of all people with constipation. The next diagnostic possibilities are the tools of the radiologists which can image the colon and identify structural anomalies. Ultrasounds, or sonograms, can take live low-resolution images of the muscles of lower rectum working to move contents out. Similarly, x-ray proctograms use x-rays to take higher resolution images that show irregularities that cause problems such as pelvic floor dyssynergia.
The medical technology for uncovering other causes of constipation is still new. It is likely that advances in genome sequencing, nanotechnology, computer-aided drug design will continue to push forward the frontiers of diagnosing and treating constipation. Until then, there are a number of natural treatments that people try, hopefully settling on one that works. The following are some examples.
For sufferers interested in natural relief, there are a few choices. One of these which even doctors may suggest is the increase of dietary fiber. This can be accomplished through consuming fiber-rich foods. One kind is the prune, which is a plum with moisture removed.
Some may discover that the effort to eat good fiber foods to be draining. A reasonable answer to this problem is to consider supplements with psyllium. Psyllium comes in the form of finely crushed seeds that are mixed with water to make on-the-go drinks. Primary care givers propose that the time given to this sort of high fiber treatment usually demands around half a month for its full efficacy to kick in.
Various kinds of laxatives are available to people with issues of constipation. Among the most accepted are the broadly understood osmotic laxatives and the stimulant laxatives. They derive their names from what seems to be their mechanism of action. A popular laxative labeled Macrogol is a class of osmotic agent, as well as magnesium-based treatments like magnesium citrate or milk of magnesia.
Senna tea is a final class of constipation treatments that has become quite popular in the Western world, although its first use has been documented for hundreds of years.
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In this age of cheap and plentiful calories, coupled with sedentary work and lifestyles, many people find themselves overweight. The two most common methods of dealing with or overcoming high body weight are exercise and dieting. Exercise is acknowledged to provide universal benefits, whereas dieting is a more delicate lifestyle change.
A dieter usually watches out for how many calories, and specifically how much fat and protein, and how many carbs are being absorbed every day. While weight reduction is the direct and primary goal of dieting, some people might find that dieting also causes constipation.
A possible reason for the link between dieting and constipation is that we have dropped the fiber-rich foods in the quest for less calories. A naive way to solve this is to go back to former patterns of eating, but this is unhelpful as the dieter is trying hard to change eating patterns for reducing weight.
To address constipation in the dieter, he or she has several ways forward. In all of these ways, it is best to chat with a primary care doctor to make sure that good health practices are being maintained. This is not a trivial health problem as it involves subtle changes that can address problems in two areas: weight loss and constipation.
Fortunately for people requiring relief, a few non-medicated paths and many pharmaceutical methods are sold. The first and foremost which even doctors may put forth is maximizing dietary fiber. A rational method to implement this line of therapy is to increase grains and fruits with the most fiber content. Prunes are a good choice, carrying plenty of fiber but in addition sorbitol which has helpful effects.
There are patients who are unhappy that the attention required in picking out high fiber foods is excessive. A widely undertaken approach is to give high fiber supplements a shot. Purified from special plants like the plantago, these supplements come in powder mixtures and are put into with liquids to form a drink. Doctors point out that the time given to this sort of intense fiber treatment often needs about ten to fourteen days for its complete effectiveness to be felt.
Many laxatives are currently on the market and in use by patients with constipation. Amongst the most popular are the well known osmotic laxatives and the stimulant laxatives. The designations were given accordingly to biological mechanisms of action. A favored laxative known as Macrogol is a type of osmotic agent, in addition to magnesium-based treatments such as milk of magnesia or citrate of magnesium.
Finally, natural remedies for constipation are available. One widely used one is the senna tea or herbal senna, which is high in anthraquinone compounds that have strong effects on colonic motility. A caveat is that even herbal medications such as senna must be taken cautiously with advice of a physician.
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According to surveyors from both academia and the pharmaceutical industry, the general population experiences a 10% incidence rate of constipation. Such a high incidence means that there is a large market for medications and supplements targeted toward constipation, and that the number of players in the market that supply these treatment agents is correspondingly large.
The fact that there are many supplements and medications targeted toward the constipation patient might discourage new entrants into the market, however the truth is that there are fairly few (if any) universally effective treatments. Instead, the product market is fragmented into sectors, none of which can provide complete relief to the average sufferer. The market for constipation treatments can continue to support novel agents, as long as they provide new benefits over existing treatments.
At the moment, the market for therapeutics is divisible into four categories. These include herbal supplements that are usually not regulated by the FDA unless there are exceptional circumstances, medical laxatives that can be prescribed or bought over counter, nutritional supplements available in health or fitness stores, and a new class of molecular therapies which act in novel ways unless traditional therapies.
The market for nutrient supplements is dominated by players such as Metamucil. The nutrients are derived from natural foods or grains that have lots of fiber. To take as an example, Metamucil comes in a powdered drink form which contains ground psyllium seeds that are extremely rich in fiber. People who take it simply mix it with fluids and drink it for a powerful daily dose.
By and large, herbal supplements are synonymous with senna, which are rich in sennosides, a class of compounds that stimulates the intestine. The constipation treatment market used to be much more crowded with other herbal supplements like aloe and cascara, but the FDA has since then cracked down on new entrants to the field because of safety concerns. Some manufacturers still produce aloe-based herbal supplements in concordance with the law.
The largest class of laxatives in the market of constipation treatments is the one that includes OTC agents found in pharmacies and apothecaries. Such laxatives come in various brand names, have various active ingredients and act in different ways. Patients might consider trying two or three classes before settling on any one. For example, lubricant laxatives help reduce water uptake by coating food in an oily cover. If a patient doesn’t respond to it, he or she might try a stimulant laxative that causes the gastrointestinal tract to contract more often for speeding up movement of contents.
Finally, a new generation of medicines known as “molecular” medicines await approval from the FDA. The first of these, amitiza, directly fires a protein receptor in sensor cells of the intestine which cause fluid secretion and spontaneous bowel movement. General laxatives operate through unclear mechanisms usually with empirical bases, whereas amitiza and other agents were designed for a specific mechanism. The result is a more targeted medication, and one that has achieved elusive acceptance by the FDA for treating chronic constipation.
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Many people who have read about treatments of constipation have in high likelihood learned about prunes. The prune is often thought of as a good laxative, largely because of the high proportion of dietary fiber by weight. The thing that most people don’t realize is that prune juice alone is an excellent laxative.
The cultivation and exploitation of plums has gone on for hundreds or even thousands of years, according to the best archaeological evidence. Modern prune makers follow an ancient tradition. Plums are plucked and collected in one area where temperature is raised to about 200 degrees Fahrenheit. In ancient times this was likely done in or near an oven. After drying, the prunes can be further processed to create related products.
The conventional understanding is that prunes get their laxative effects by having a lot of fiber. In fact, the fiber is over 5% by weight, which is quite high for a fruit. Prune juice however has almost no fiber because the particulates are filtered out usually. Therefore, how does prune juice benefit those who suffer from constipation? The key is sorbitol, a long complex sugar.
The content of sorbitol in prune juice is amazingly high. The sugar is a complex polysaccharide, meaning that it’s an extended chain of sugar-like molecules. When ingested, it tends to absorb a lot of water and stays in gut. In fact, because it’s not absorbed in the same way as glucose, sorbitol is often used as a sweetener that is calorie free.
Pears and sugar free gum are two other things with sorbitol. Of course, the pear has a higher amount and is presumably a good aid for digestion as well. One interesting fact is that dietary fiber has molecular properties that are very similar to sugar and sorbitol. It’s no coincidence that all of these laxatives have similar molecular characteristics.
What gives sorbitol its powerful anti-constipation effects? Two things that we have mentioned are responsible: the fact that sorbitol goes through the gut without being digested and the fact that sorbitol has a tendency to retain a lot of water in the intestine. Together, this means that foods with sorbitol will become bulky with fluids.
With excess water, the colon contents become less dense and pass more easily through the body. The class of laxatives that exerts its effects through water retention is known as the osmotic laxatives. Prune juice is convenient to store and take all day. However, as with any type of self-administered laxative treatment, it’s probably best to ask a physician for safety and dosing instructions.
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The most common form of constipation is known as idiopathic or functional constipation. This means that the cause is unclear, therefore the disease can only be defined by the symptoms that it displays. Very often, the first line constipation remedies are preceded by high fiber therapy. However, in the cases that it doesn’t work (which is the majority), patients will often turn toward laxatives.
The general consensus among physicians and researchers is that laxative constipation remedies is safe and well-tolerated. But given that some patients must take them over long periods of time, doubts have come up about both efficacy and long term, unintended consequences. A consequence of these doubts have been the appearance of what seems to be misconceptions concerning laxative usage.
There are three kinds of misconceptions about laxative usage. The first is the idea that long term use causes nerves in the gastrointestinal tract to be damaged. The second is the idea that long term use leads to higher chance of cancer. The third is that the gut starts to become “immune” to laxatives and perhaps suffer “rebound” effects that worsen constipation.
Regarding the first, evidence regarding nerve damage first came to light in studies of patients who were taking laxative constipation treatments for a long time and had discoloration in the lining of the bowel. In addition, these patients were found later to have intestinal nerve damage. However, early studies were not double-blinded and controlled, leading many researchers to believe that nerve damage and laxative use was a correlative rather than causal relationship. That is, people with constipation had a higher chance of having nerve damage already, regardless of whether they were taking laxatives.
On the topic of the second, people reported a connection from laxatives to cancer by looking at animal experimentation. Rodents which were given very high doses of laxatives showed more DNA damage and thus propensity toward cancer. Yet the studies used extremely high concentrations of drugs that are never seen in humans. Likewise, studies with such high concentrations of aspartame and artificial sweeteners show a link between consumption and cancer that are rarely realized in epidemiological surveys.
On the topic of the third, informal reports from patients who said they were seeing diminished effectiveness from medication initiated the idea of laxative intolerance. The counterpoint to this is that controlled studies in both animals and quadraplegic patients who used laxatives for as long as 34 years did not suffer from intolerance effects.
In all, laxatives remain a helpful weapon in the arsenal against constipation. Ideas that they lead to long-term damage need to be taken with a grain of salt, and patients should consult with physicians to manage their fears.
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