CONSTIPATION
One should pass stools twice a day- once after getting up from the bed and once in the evening. This is more essential for vegetarians because their food contains lot of roughage.
Some people, however, evacuate their bowels only once In a day, usually in early morning and it is generally normal for them.
Yet popular fear of constipation produces two of the most pronounced and sometimes expensive errors of civilization: insistence on regularity and the purchase of purgatives. Nor is it only modern, western, high-technology civilization that produces these mistakes; purgatives make up the largest part of most herbal pharmacopoeias. They are amongst the earliest recorded remedies just as constipation has the same status amongst maladies. One man’s regularity is another’s diarrhea- or, indeed, constipation. Central Africans on a bulky, vegetarian diet may defecate within 8 to 10 hours after each meal. In
This habit is commonly found amongst city-dwellers whose evening programs are uncertain. The roughage content of those who take non-vegetarian diet is so little that they do not feel any discomfort even if it remains inside the intestines for 24 hours or more. In European countries where people living mostly on meat, they pass stools once in three of four days, and they consider it normal.
Now the constipation may be caused by
(a) poor bowel habits, improper eating habits, irritable colon, spastic colitis or emotional disturbances; or
(b) paralytic or mechanical obstruction to the passage of stools, such things as adhesions, tumors of the bowel, structure of the anus, or rectum, or inflammatory conditions may produce organic constipation.
Apart from the roughage from food, stool contains some metabolic waste products. They come out from the blood. Therefore, even if a man does not take anything, he has to pass stools, because the metabolic process that is going on in his body yields some waste products which are to be eliminated only through stools. If they are not eliminated, they cause lot of discomfort in the abdomen.
There is wind formation, heaviness in the stomach, and loss of appetite. It may also result in headache, sleeplessness and even high blood pressure.
Some disease like Asthma, chronic cold, bronchitis and tonsillitis are associated with constipation and once the constipation is removed, the disease automatically disappears. It is therefore, necessary to take care of constipation well in time.
For this change of food habits is a better way to deal with constipation than drugs of any kinds. Since the disorder is born out of the habit of taking heavily spiced, fatty foods and too refined cereals, the first step in dealing with constipation is to advise the patient to take light foods.
Milk, fruit juices, and boiled vegetables and total abstinence from fats and refined foods, is the first step towards the treatment of the constipation.
The patient should be advised to take sufficient amounts of liquids- water, milk etc.-which will deal with dryness of the intestines which obstructs faces to come out.
In the case of children suffering from constipation, a suppository made of macerated leaves of Harita-Manjari ( acalypha indica) should be introduced into the rectum.
An alternative is the suppository made of the stalk of betel leaf coated with castor oil, or a poultice made of the leaves of Kidmari (aritolochia bracteata) should be applied upon the abdomen of the child.
The other remedies which tend to relieve constipation are:-
(1) powder of Madhuka (liquorice root) taken with gur and water;
(2) decoction of Akashbel (dodder);
(3) the pulp of the roots of Arni (clerodendrum phlomidia) taken with ghee;
(4) Isabagol (flea seed) – two heaped tablespoons - taken with milk or water;
(5) Castor oil seed in small doses;
(6) Sienna, one part and Harada half a part, finely powdered taken in one gram doses thrice daily.
But the chronic constipation can be best dealt with by the pills made of the following ingredients-
Rose buds - 5 parts
Sienna leaves - 4 parts
Pulp of Amaltas - 3 parts
Harad - 5 parts
Alternatively Pipli - 4 parts
Nishottar - 2 parts
Harada - 5 parts
Gur (equal to the quantity of all the substances enumerated above)
If the constipation is attended to dry, hard and lumpy stools, Jhohar (euphorbia nerifolia) should be cooked as a pot herb and eaten before meals.
Harada should be fried in ghee or castor oil and the powder made out of it should be taken with black salt (kala namak).
Swadishtra Virechan, Lasuna Kshira and Avipittakar Churna are also the standard drugs for the remedy of constipation.
The patient suffering from chronic constipation should be advised to take fruits, leafy vegetables and fruit juice in plenty.
The bran of both rice and wheat are useful in relieving constipation. The patient should, therefore, use whole meal flour and not refined flour. Similarly, he should use rice along with it bran, and not polished rice.
Among the vegetables, surana and papaya are very useful in relieving constipation.
Fried things, pulses and preparations of pulses are extremely harmful for patients suffering from chronic constipation. Taking sugarcane juice is very useful for relieving constipation. Regularity in the habit of evacuating bowels, is very important for a person to keep himself free from chronic constipation. Whether he gets motion or not, he should attend to the call of nature.
Persons who are given to sedentary activities are often exposed to constipation and constipation produces several other diseases like fistula and piles in them. Persons suffering from chronic constipation should undertake some physical exercises regularly. Walking a few kilometers is also sufficient for a person to get himself relieved of his constipation. Mental worries and anxieties have a great role to play in causing constipation. It is, therefore, necessary that the patient should change his daily habits and lead a care-free life to keep himself free form this aliment. Excessive intake of tea and coffee is most harmful for such person.
