Case: Chen Da Ma, 58 years old, has been constipated for 3 years, his son has repeatedly advised him to go to the hospital for a checkup, but the old man thought constipation was a minor illness and was unwilling to go to the hospital, buying some laxatives at the drugstore and taking a few tablets every now and then. Later, constipation worsened, and a burst of abdominal pain, the left lower abdomen can feel a hard mass, his family sent him to the hospital for examination, found to be advanced colon cancer. Constipation is a common clinical symptom that can occur throughout a person’s life, some of which are transient and some of which can become chronic. A large proportion of people have misconceptions about constipation, think constipation is a minor disease, not worth going to the hospital, just go to the drugstore to buy some laxatives to eat to solve the problem. In fact, constipation to human health hazards are not negligible. Toxins in the body, mainly through the feces out of the body, long-term constipation, the body can not be discharged in a timely manner, can induce inflammation, tumors and other diseases; elderly people suffering from chronic diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular, constipation often leads to the occurrence and exacerbation of complications, seriously affecting the quality of life of the elderly. Mystery: Why does constipation occur? The human digestive system is a complex chemical factory, from fresh food to the discharge of feces, the food in the body has gone through several important digestive stages: first, the stomach grinds the food into fine minced food, then in the duodenum in a variety of digestive juices to break down the food, then in the small intestine section of the food in the useful nutrients absorbed into the blood, and finally the remaining waste residue from the large intestine discharge …… But many people’s intestines are not good, in the last part of the problem —- constipation, garbage accumulation in the body, can not be discharged in a timely manner, long-term, prone to colon cancer! Food in the process of digestion and decomposition will break down some toxic components, such as protein metabolism produces garbage phenol, methylindole, hydrogen sulfide; carbohydrate metabolic garbage has methane, carbon dioxide, fat decomposition garbage has glycerol, aldehydes, ketone bodies, etc. Most of these substances are harmful to the human body, and will have a carcinogenic effect if they stay in the body for a long time. In people with long-term constipation, these toxins stay in the colon for a long time, and the colon will reabsorb the components in the stool, so these toxins will be absorbed into the colon, which will have toxic effects on the endothelial cells of the colon and trigger cancerous changes in the cells. Therefore, people who are chronically constipated are prone to colon cancer.
Dietary fiber and probiotics are good for improving constipation. Eating more vegetables, coarse grains and mushroom food can supplement sufficient amount of dietary fiber, and remember to drink more water, as dietary fiber enters the intestine and expands in water, the stool will become fluffy, which is good for laxative bowel movement.