Laxatives are an aid for constipation and are supposed to be used seldom.

They
have been used for thousands of years in a more natural remedy, but over the course of
time they have changed from the natural form into a medication created in a laboratory.
Laxatives come in many different forms that range from capsules to a lubricant. Using
laxatives can be dangerous, just like any other drug, they can cause long term health
issues without realizing how dangerous they can be when used incorrectly whether it is
intentional or not.
What is a laxative? A laxative is a medicine or agent for relieving constipation.
(Dictionary.com) There are four major groups of people who misuse or abuse laxatives:
(1) Athletes who have to maintain a certain weight for a competition. (2) Someone with
an eating disorder like bulimia or anorexia nervosa. (3) A middle-aged or elderly person
who has irregular bowel movements or that may believe in order to maintain optimal
health they need to have a bowel movement daily. (4) An individual with factitious
disorder (someone who intentionally causes diarrhea).
Different types of laxatives some that physically alter the bowels ability to
function (stimulant or osmotic) and some that create a bulk in the intestines to stimulate
the bowels to begin a movement. When someone over uses a stimulant or osmotic
laxative it can harm their intestines and cause the muscle to lose their natural function
then lead to deadened nerve endings in the rectum. When this happens the body will lose
its natural function to have a bowel movement and will then depend on the stimulant
laxative to get it going.
Laxatives that create a bulk in the intestines, actually draw fluids from other

organs surrounding the intestines to create a bulk which stimulates the bowels to move.
This doesnt necessarily affect the body physically, other than dehydration, if the user is
not drinking enough water, but the user may become psychologically dependent on the
bulking laxative in order to have a bowel movement.
Laxatives are available in different forms like: capsule, liquid, liquid filled
capsule, tablet, chewable tablets, oil, syrup, flake, suspension, powder for suspension,
wafer, granule, powder for suspension emulsion, kit, gum, solution or in a packet. With
laxatives being available in that many forms and being available over the counter (OTC),
it makes it difficult to regulate who is taking them and whether or not they are abusing
the OTC drug. When it is suspected that a person is abusing the use of laxatives the best
way is by a physicians realization and diagnosis. Many physicians can test if the patient
has an electrolyte imbalance (potassium, magnesium, sodium and chloride) or they can
do a urinary analysis (UA) on the patient to check the toxicity level from the laxative.
Many forms of laxatives are available but there are also different ways that they
function and how the body reacts to the laxative. The first one is a bulk-forming laxative
which is a laxative that absorbs water and expands (kind of like a dry sponge), increasing
volume, facilitating passage of stools and increasing motility. The second one is a
hyperosmotic-containing type of laxative which is similar to a bulk forming laxative by
drawing water into the intestines. The third type of laxative is a stimulant-containing
laxative which increase evacuation of stools by increasing intestinal peristalsis (wormlike
movement by which the alimentary canal or other tubular organs with both longitudinal
and circular muscle fibers propel their contents, consisting of a wave of contraction
passing along the tube.)

Some of these laxatives that contain those agents can cause serious reactions. Bulk
containing laxatives can cause reactions like: difficulty breathing, intestinal blockage,
skin rash or itching, and/or swallowing difficulty. Hyperosmotic containing laxatives can
cause serious reactions like: confusion, dizziness or lightheadedness, irregular heartbeat,
muscle cramps and/or unusual tiredness/weakness. Lastly, stimulant containing laxatives
can cause serious reactions like: confusion, irregular heartbeat, muscle cramps, coloration
of alkaline urine (pink to red, red to violet, or red to brown), skin rash, unusual
tenderness/weakness, and/or yellow to brown coloration of acid urine.
Many cases of people who abuse laxatives intentionally and unintentionally and
sometimes it causes serious illness or even death. One case that was recently released on
October 15, 2015 Mummy blogger charged accused of injecting ill child with urine,
laxative abuse. This article is about a little girl who has a genetic illness that caused her to
have frequent hospitalizations. It goes into detail about how the little girl was publicized
for various charities. It then explains how the childs illness was worsening and doctors
could not figure out why. When they did a thorough exam on the child they found yeast
and fungus in one of her venous lines as well as mass amounts of laxative traces in a stool
sample of the childs. The police did a search on the mother and found syringes with
urine traces on them. They then determined that the childs mother had been injecting her
with urine as well as giving her mass amounts of laxatives causing her illness to worsen.
This was a case of an intentional laxative abuser who gave her daughter laxatives to
worsen her condition for attention that the mother was wanting.
There are also many cases of users who do not realize that they are over using
laxatives. These users are mainly people who do not have regular bowel movements and

take laxatives to help stimulate the bowels to have daily movements. This can become a
health concern due to the user not realizing that not everyone has daily bowel
movements, which is sometimes normal to not have daily bowel movements. By
overusing a stimulating laxative your nerve endings in the rectum will deaden and the
natural muscle reaction will loosen and even lose its natural function.

Many cases that result in unintentional overuse of laxatives are those of middle aged
to elderly people. Most will unintentionally abuse laxatives are trying to stay regular and
have a bowel movement every day. This can be dangerous because when they use a
stimulant laxative it can cause severe damage to the nerve endings in the colon. This
happens because of the stimulation that the laxative induces is an artificial stimulant.
When this occurs the nerve ending begin to decrease in the natural function and the user
will require higher dosages as time goes on. The user will then become completely
dependent on laxatives to have any sort of bowel movement. Another thing that
sometimes happens is they will then turn to enemas along with laxatives and when this
happens the colon is stripped of the protective mucus that lines the colon, which can
make the colon vulnerable to serious infections.

An experiment has been conducted before to see just how much, if any, extra calories
are excreted when someone takes laxatives after eating to rid of the excess calories. There
was one group of people who were known laxative abusers and one group of people who
were not. Both groups of people were given a meal that was a high calorie meal

(2000kcal) and then the researchers took stool samples from both groups. The individuals
that were abusers of laxatives took their purgative of choice and the other group did
nothing but let their body excrete the matter naturally. The group that took their purgative
of choice had only excreted an extra 100 calories (equal to one small cookie) than the
other group who let their body function without any type of laxative.
There are a few different ways that many people can get their bowels to function
without using any type of laxative. Eating enough food along with eating enough food
that contains high amounts of dietary fiber is beneficial. This is because the body needs
enough food to produce a bulk to stimulate the intestines to move it through and out of
the body. Dietary Fiber is the bulk of plant nutrients that the body cannot digest or
absorb, it simply passes through the stomach, small intestine, colon and then out of the
body. There are two type of fiber, soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber produces a gel-like
material and is found in oats, peas, beans, citrus fruits, carrots, apples and barley.
Insoluble fiber doesnt produce anything but it promotes the movement of the material in
your digestive system and produces more bulk to the stool. Insoluble fiber is very
beneficial to those who suffer from constipation and irregular bowel movements. Foods
that contain insoluble fiber are: Whole-wheat flour, wheat bran, nuts, beans and
vegetables, such as cauliflower, green beans and potatoes, are good sources of insoluble
fiber.
Warm water is another aid to having normal bowel movements and not having to
depend on laxatives. Warm to hot water helps breakdown foods and helps to keep the oils
liquid throughout the digestive process and helps to prevent fat deposits in the intestine.
This is most effective when you drink a cup of hot to warm water before breakfast, this

helps with digestion and helps to stimulate the bowels. Also drinking water throughout
the day is another helpful way so that you are not dependent on laxatives (8-10 glasses).
Lastly, exercise is something that helps with the digestive process and will help to
avoid using laxatives or stimulants. Regular exercise helps with circulation throughout
the body and helps keeping the digestive tract circulating. Exercise helps by decreasing
the time that stool takes to travel through the large intestine. By decreasing the time it
takes to move through the large intestine, it also helps to decrease the amount of water
that is absorbed to move the stool through the intestine and excreted. By having
accelerated heart rate and faster breathing rate will also stimulate the natural contraction
of the intestinal muscles.
Basically to sum it all up, medicated laxatives can have lots of negative effects on the
body. Depending on laxatives to have bowel movements or abusing laxatives for weight
management could lead to lifelong digestive problems and even death. Many people are
finding that they unintentionally misuse or overuse laxatives and due to the many
different forms of laxatives that are available, this can be easy to do. There are also cases
of people who suffer from anorexia nervosa or bulimia that use laxatives as a purgative.
Many studies have found those who abuse the laxatives only excreted an extra 100
calories versus those who allowed their bodies to work naturally. Instead of using
laxatives to help there are many different things that aid in having a regular functioning
digestive system. Drinking hot or warm water helps with speeding up digestion and
keeping oils from hardening which can cause fat deposits. Also drinking 8 to 10 glasses
of water (or more) can also help. Not only does regular exercise improves overall health
it also improves the functions of the digestive tract. Exercising allows circulation of the

digestive tract and helps to move food throughout the system and to be excreted. There
are many alternatives to turn to other than turning straight to using laxatives because
using laxatives can be dangerous, just like any other drug, they can cause long term
health issues without even realizing how dangerous they can be when used incorrectly
whether it is intentional or not.

Sources
ABC premium news, "Mummy blogger charged/ accused of injecting child with urine,
laxative abuse"
Anred.com

Frey, Rebecca J Ph. D, "Over The Counter drugs and infectious disease"
Holzmueller, Christine. BLA "Laxative Abuse" Salem Press encyclopedia of health
Mayo Clinic, Micromedex, Laxative Forms of Availability
Mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle-and-healthy-eating
medicaldaily.com/health-benefit-warm-water-6-ways-drinking-warm-water-can-healyour-body-282218
medicaldaily.com/health-benefit-warm-water-6-ways-drinking-warm-water-can-healyour-body-282218
Medicaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com
Melone, Sara; healthyliving.azventral.com/exercise-improves-digestion-4714.html
Murery, Guelph; Dr. Giffprd-Jones "ANatural Cure for Constipation"
National Eating Disorders.org