Regular use of laxatives may increase your risk of dementia, a study finds. You can read what’s behind it here.
Around 40% of dementia diseases could be through lifestyle changes and avoidance of certain risk factors be prevented. This includes, for example hypertension, hearing loss, overweight and little social contact. Researchers may now have identified another risk factor: regular use of laxatives.
The scientists analyzed the data from almost 500,000 participants from the UK Biobank. The subjects were between 40 and 69 years old and had no history of dementia. Regular use of laxatives was defined as self-reported use of laxatives most days of the week over the past 4 weeks.
Above all, the risk of vascular dementia increases
In the cohort, 3.6% of participants regularly took laxatives. The scientists followed the participants for nearly 10 years and identified those who developed dementia during that time based on hospital admissions or death records. During that time, 1.3% of subjects who had regularly taken laxatives received a diagnosis of dementia – compared to only 0.4% of participants who did not. Statistically, chronic laxative use results in a significantly increased dementia risk of 50% (HR 1.51). Therefore, the use was mainly associated with the emergence of vascular dementia (HR 1.65) associated; the risk for Alzheimer’s dementia was not influenced by this (HR 1.05).
The type of laxative also played a role in dementia risk: those using only osmotic laxatives had a higher risk of general dementia (HR 1.64) and vascular dementia (HR 1.97) compared with those using other laxatives or none used at all. But how can such laxatives affect the risk of dementia?
Laxatives disrupt the gut-brain axis
Osmotic laxatives cause stool dilution by drawing water into the intestinal lumen. But they can also change the intestinal microbiome, as a study showed in 2018. A disturbed intestinal flora, also known as Dysbiosis referred to, can in turn impair signal transmission at the so-called gut-brain axis and the production of Neurotransmitters influence. In addition, laxatives can also disrupt the epithelial barriers of the gut, thus facilitating the passage of neurotoxic metabolites originating from the gut microbiome into the central nervous system. This can promote inflammatory processes.
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“The study is not a randomized controlled trial, so it does not provide evidence that laxatives actually increase the risk of dementia. Further investigations are necessary. Nevertheless, given the results, we advise caution when using laxatives, especially given the fact that dementia is on the rise.” explained DGN Secretary General and Press Spokesman Prof. Peter Berlit.
Changing your diet instead of taking a laxative
Especially in nursing homes, the use of laxatives is standard: Loud investigations up to 70% of residents regularly use laxatives. According to the expert, many people could avoid taking laxatives regularly if they changed their diet and more fiber – contained in fruit, vegetables and whole grain products – and above all, would drink enough liquid in the form of water or unsweetened tea.
Prof. Berlit: “Such a change in diet may have a double protective effect against dementia: on the one hand, in many cases laxatives, which have a potentially damaging effect on brain health, can be dispensed with. On the other hand, a healthy diet per se is an important pillar of dementia prevention. In order to maintain mental function into old age, it is definitely worth changing your diet!”
Image source: Denys Nevozhai, Unsplash