Constipation; the thief of time!
“Constipation is the thief of time, diarrhoea waits for no man!”
The literature suggested that idiopathic constipation, which mainly affected young women, could, like faecal incontinence, be caused by one of a number of possible defects. This was not true. Although our studies showed that a range of abnormalities, delays in colonic transit, a blunting or rectal sensitivity and propulsion, inhibition of internal sphincter relaxation and paradoxical contraction of the external sphincter, these all tended to co-exist. Moreover a blunting of spinal reflexes and a parallel inhibition of micturition suggested that it was the cerebral activation of the programme for evacuation that was at fault, even though there was no sign of stroke, tumor or any other neurological disease. This indicated a psychological inhibition and underlined the success of biofeedback and psychological therapies.
- Read, N.W., Timms, J.M., Barfield, L.J., Bannister, J.J., Donnelly, T.C. and Read, M.G. (1986) Impairment of defaecation in young women with severe constipation. Gastroenterology 90: 53-60.
- Bannister, J.J., Lawrence, W., Thomas, D.G., Smith, A.B.R., Read, N.W. (1988) Urological abnormalities in patients with slow transit constipation. Gut 29: 17-20.
- Kerrigan, D., Sun, W.M., Lucas, M.J., Read, N.W. (1989) Idiopathic constipation is associated with impaired urethrovesical and sacral reflex function. Brit. J. Surg. 76: 748-751.
- Read, N.W. (1992) Anismus; does biofeedback work after all? Lancet.
