Constipation is said if more than three days pass between acts of defecation, and the process itself passes with stress and release of dense small feces in volume. The reasons for what constipation occurs are very different, but all stool delays are caused by changes in intestinal motility, which disrupt the normal process of digestion and the progression of feces to the anus. Disturbances in the motor activity of the esophagus may be functional or secondary, caused by certain diseases, as well as those that belong to the category of so-called habitual constipation.
The most common causes of constipation are the lifestyle of an adult - malnutrition, lack of motor activity, nerve overexertion, insufficient fluid intake, all this affects the decrease in intestinal activity and causes a delay in stool. For example, with the entrainment of fatty, refined food, the lack of fiber and dietary fiber in the diet leads to a weakening of peristalsis. With nervous disorders, the process of transmission of nerve impulses that stimulate the process of formation and movement of stool masses is disrupted, which contributes to the accumulation of feces in the intestine and their untimely removal.
Among the reasons that constipation can be called taking certain medications( antihistamines, antidepressants, Almagel, diuretics).Often among the factors that cause constipation in adults, there is poisoning with toxic substances, frequent cleansing enemas, a habit of using laxatives in each case of stool delay. A large group among the reasons why constipation occurs are diseases in which stool retention is a secondary sign.
Why and why do constipation occur?
The main diseases causing constipation are:
- of the gastrointestinal tract;
- of the central nervous system;
- of the endocrine system;
- obesity;
- internal disease;
- diseases of the genitourinary system;
- inflammation of the uterine appendages and prostate;
- postoperative complications.
The most common diseases that cause constipation are intestinal dysbacteriosis, stomach and duodenal ulcers, tumors of various origin in the thick and rectum. Sometimes there is irritable bowel syndrome. Although there is no unequivocal opinion that IBS is a disease or an acute reaction of the sensitive intestine to irritating factors, up to the present time there is none.
In chronic pathologies of the biliary tract there is inconsistency of contractions of the gallbladder and sphincters, caused by hormonal failures. Dysfunction of the movement of the biliary tract and gall bladder causes stasis of stool. Stones that form in the ducts with cholelithiasis, delay the passage of food, interfering with the normal process. Inflammations of the pancreas( pancreatitis), the gallbladder( cholecystitis) contribute to the release of toxins, disrupts the microflora, which again leads to the development of constipation.
Arteriosclerosis, other cardiovascular diseases cause circulatory disorders in the vessels of the intestines, which in turn leads to a weakening of the motility and untimely emptying of the intestine. The main functions of the nervous system are to ensure the interaction of individual organs and systems of an adult in ensuring their concerted action. Failure in the work of the central nervous system caused by diseases is very often accompanied by constipation. In medical practice, such pathologies of the nervous system are distinguished, accompanied by constipation as:
- Parkinson's disease, which is called "trembling paralysis", it slows the speed of all movements, imbalances.
- Alzheimer's disease affecting people older than 65 years, characterized by a memory disorder, a consciousness, a decrease in intelligence.
- Children's cerebral palsy, affecting one or more brain regions, leads to muscle weakness, restriction of the child's motor activity.
- Multiple sclerosis leads to loss of functions that control the physical and psychoemotional state of an adult.
Injuries to the spinal cord, interrupting the normal process of transmission of nerve signals, contributes to the weakening of intestinal motility. The endocrine system regulates through hormones the activity of literally all human organs. In diabetes mellitus, a lack of the hormone of the pancreas, contributes to the development of the defeat of blood vessels, organs and life support systems of an adult. The secondary sign of these lesions is constipation. Another cause of constipation in women is the climatic syndrome. Developing during the period of extinction of reproductive activity, it can cause various changes in the nervous, neurovegetative, endocrine systems.