people who drink laxatives usually have a 50% increased risk of developing dementia than people who do not take them, according to a study published in ‘Neurology’, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
There are differences depending on the type of laxative ingested. According to the researchers, people who only used osmotic laxativesa type of laxative that draws water into the colon to soften stool, were at even higher risk.
“Regular use of laxatives can change the gut microbiomepossibly affecting nerve signaling from the gut to the brain or increasing the production of intestinal toxins that can affect the brain,” explains Dr Feng Sha, of the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangdong, China. reports EP.
The study author insists that what they found in the research is that “regular use of non-prescription laxatives was associated with an increased risk of dementia, particularly in people who used multiple types of laxatives or osmotic laxatives.” Therefore, they cannot prove a direct cause.
The risk of osmotic and stimulant laxatives
Sha has reminded that the regular use of osmotic and stimulant laxatives is not recommended, and yet some people use them regularly. “Constipation and the use of laxatives are common among middle-aged and older adults,” laments the researcher.
502,229 people participated in the study from the UK biobank database with a mean age of 57 years who did not have dementia at baseline. Of this group, 18,235 people, that is, 3.6%, stated that they used non-prescription laxatives regularly. Regular use was defined as the use of a laxative on most days of the week during the month prior to the study.
Over a median of 10 years, 218 of those who used laxatives regularly, or the 1.3% developed dementia. Of those who did not use laxatives regularly, 1,969 people, or 0.4%, developed dementia.
After accounting for factors such as age, gender, education, other medical conditions and medication use, as well as a family history of dementia, the researchers found that people who used laxatives regularly had 51% higher risk of general dementia compared with people who did not use laxatives regularly.
The risk of dementia also increased with the number of types of laxatives used. For people who used only one type of laxative, the risk increased by 28%, while for people who took of the bad types of laxatives the risk increased by 90%.
However, among people using only one type, only those taking osmotic laxatives had an increased risk, with a 64% increase compared with those not using laxatives.
Changes in the treatment of constipation
Sha stresses that “finding ways to reduce a person’s risk of dementia by identifying risk factors that can be modified is crucial.” For this reason, the main author of the study “more research is needed to deepen the link that our research found between laxatives and dementia.”
“If our findings are confirmed, medical professionals may encourage people to treat constipation by making lifestyle changes, such as drinking more water, increasing dietary fiber, and adding more activity to their daily lives,” he concludes.