At first glance, a quick-acting laxative may seem like a completely unnecessary and completely unnecessary thing in a healthy person’s first-aid kit . However, this is not at all true. In fact, approximately every fifth person who lives on our planet is firsthand familiar with a disease such as chronic constipation. This is quite an impressive figure, therefore, a laxative of fast action today begins to enjoy no less popularity than any conventional means aimed, for example, to strengthen the immune system.
Most often, women over the age of forty, people who lead a mostly sedentary lifestyle, and old people turn to doctors with such an ailment. Interesting fact: people in rural areas almost never complain of constipation. From this we can conclude that the cause of their occurrence is the wrong lifestyle and diet. In general, in any case, the fastest and most common way to treat constipation is a quick-acting laxative.
However, it must be said that all laxatives differ in mechanism and mode of action. Some of them induce the intestine to increase the activity of evacuation activity, exerting an exciting effect on the nerve endings of its mucous membrane. These laxatives include many natural products, such as castor oil, plantex or buckthorn bark. However, there are artificially created drugs. An example is the effective and safe laxative fast-acting "Bisacodyl".
One of the important stages of digestion that occurs in the intestine is the absorption of water from a semi-liquid mass of feces. The next group of laxatives is based on preventing its absorption. As a result of this, the quantitative mass of feces increases, which, in turn, has a stimulating effect on the intestines, prompting him to defecate. Such laxatives include salt preparations: Glauber's salt, magnesia, magnesium sulfate and others.
A separate category is allocated to such laxatives that affect the physical characteristics of feces, and not on the condition of the intestine. So, for example, if you eat seaweed, it will swell, absorbing the liquid. Thus, the amount of feces will increase. This process occurs thanks to the agar-agar substance. Approximately the same system works pectin-like substances contained, for example, in apples. Macrogol and lactulose have a similar effect. Therefore, laxatives are created on the basis of these substances.
Currently, there are more advanced combination drugs. Medicines in this group are a stronger laxative. These include "Normacol", "Izaman", "Regulax" and others.
It must be said that all laxatives differ in intensity of action. Which medicine to choose depends on the purpose of its use. So, for example, there are pronounced laxatives. A potent laxative of this nature is used for complete preoperative bowel cleansing. Intensive laxatives are also used before fasting.
There is another group of drugs that cannot be clearly attributed to laxatives - these are prokinetics. In some cases, they can be very effective in treating constipation. Medicines of this group increase intestinal locomotor activity, and thereby contribute to the excretion of feces from the body. This group of drugs includes drugs such as "Tsizaprid", "Tegaserod" and others.