Constipation and diarrhea are problems enough on their own.
However, a new study links chronic versions of those ailments to organ dysfunction.
Dr. Dutch Vanderveldt, a gastroenterologist with Texas Health Dallas and Texas Health Frisco explains what can make this happen.
The authors make the point that bowel functions in general are associated with a lot of health outcomes.
Direct association would be somebody with severe constipation, or the long term can be and develop things like diverticulosis or direct colon disease.
Indirect would be the effect that the microbes in the bowel have on the person in general. And there's a lot of study going on about that.
In this particular article, the authors make the point that in constipated patients, there is a higher prevalence of a particular blood metabolite called 3-ISassociated with kidney dysfunction or chronic renal disease.
How is that possible? Bowel microbes are producing a metabolite and digesting proteins, and that metabolite then goes into the blood. And that blood level is a toxic level and can create issues with the kidney.
This gives us another look at what we might call the gut-brain-body connection?
I think the real message from this is it adds to the overall literature and research out there demonstrating gut health is incredibly important to the overall body health.
Well, this article simply points out an association, not a causal or not a causative issue. The importance is that it's adding to this body of work that's saying when gut health is not good - as demonstrated by either constipation or diarrhea - this can have ramifications on the person as a whole.
When these kinds of problems happen, what's the best way to treat them?
I think that when people have alterations of their bowel habits, either diarrhea or constipation, the first step is always lifestyle:
- getting good sleep
- getting good exercise
- drinking enough water
- dietary changes
- decreasing the amount of alcohol that you drink,
- getting enough fiber in your diet.
We're talking about medications from there. And then, we're talking about more, unique treatments.
For instance, in very specific instances, there are treatments called fecal transplantation where fecal microbiota from another person are injected into a person to help them rid themselves of specific bacteria.
There's work being done on probiotics, symbiotics, and prebiotics, specifically in people with certain disease states or immune problems or young people.
And then there's research now going on as to looking at the microbiota of a person and trying to tailor make, probiotics, prebiotics for that person to encourage good bacteria.
So the simpler thing is to try to take care of yourself?
I know this comes off as almost cliche at this point, right? Because it's the first thing we always hear: diet and exercise, taking care of yourself, getting a good diet, making sure you're hydrated. But it's so important. And it's the very basis for the treatment of many G-I disorders. It's the first thing we start talking about when we talk to our patients.
RESOURCES:
Constipation: Symptoms and Causes
Diarrhea: Symptoms, Causes and Treatments
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