Infrequent, hard, or difficult bowel movements are all termed constipation. The condition may be simple, and last only a short time, or be chronic and last months, years, or much of a lifetime.

Constipation is young people is often due to lack of bulky foods in the diet. Without bulk to stimulate the muscular activity in the colon, the content moves slowly. This allows additional time for water absorption and dehydration of the colon content. Insufficient water intake can be another cause. There reason constipation is more common during hot weather is that the body absorbs weather from the contents of the colon to replace the large amount lost as perspiration. Failure to heed the urge for a bowel movement is another cause of constipation. The undigested matter stays in the rectum and loses additional water to the blood.

Older people often develop constipation because of loss of tone in muscles of the colon wall. This is the “sluggish bowel” you hear about. Constipation is often accompanied by gas formation behind the trapped content this due to fermentation of the waste by bacteria which are always present in the colon. Inflammation of other parts of the digestive system may upset colon activity and result in constipation. These inflammations include a diseased appendix, gall bladder disease, and ulcer. A cancer or tumor in the colon, causing a block or obstruction, traps the content and ma cause alternating constipation and diarrhea.