Why does the colon neeed laxatives to treat them constipation? Why can’t simply drinking lots of water dissolve and flush the constipated feces out of the body?
In: Biology
Water is important regardless if you take a laxative or not. In fact, not drinking water can cause a laxative to be ineffective – laxatives are merely a suppliment to assist in the (speedy) treatment of constipation – they do not “*cure*” it alone.
Constipation is most commonly caused by a lack of hydration of stool present in the colon. The goal of a laxative is to either *increase the amount of water present in the colon itself* **or** *improve the ability of stool to retain water and soften*. The latter is usually a fiber-increasing laxative, since fiber helps stools to retain liquid.
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