Study findings indicate that people who frequently utilize laxatives – an often-prescribed constipation treatment – could face a 50% greater dementia risk compared to individuals who do not regularly utilize these laxatives.
Researchers also discovered that those who used only osmotic laxatives, which soften stool by drawing water to the colon and softening stool through attraction, had an even greater risk for dementia than others who used stimulating, stool softening, bulk-forming laxatives or stimulating laxatives. Although this research does not prove laxatives cause dementia directly, it does indicate a connection.
Laxative use to relieve constipation is common among middle-aged and older individuals, yet consistent laxative usage could alter your gut microbiome, potentially altering nerve signaling between gut-to-brain or increasing intestinal toxin production that affects your brain directly.
Research showed that regular over-the-counter laxative use was associated with an increased risk of dementia, particularly among individuals who used various types of stimulant or osmotic laxatives on an ongoing basis. While they may still be beneficial to some, regular usage should not be encouraged.
The study included 502,229 participants aged 57 on average from the UK biobank database who did not have dementia when the study started. Of these individuals, 18,235 reported using over-the-counter laxatives regularly in their past month – defined as using at least once every few days during that month prior to starting this research project.
Over an average period of 10 years, 218 individuals who frequently used laxatives experienced dementia while 1,969 did not regularly use laxatives experienced dementia.
Researchers discovered that individuals who regularly used laxatives had a 51% increased risk of overall dementia compared to individuals who didn’t use laxatives regularly.
Dementia risk increased proportionately with the number of different laxative types used, rising 28% for individuals using one laxative type and 90-94% when multiple types were utilized.
Only individuals using osmotic laxatives showed an increased risk, with 64% more risks compared to those who did not take laxatives.
Finding methods to lower an individual’s dementia risk through identification of modifiable risk factors is of critical importance, and further research needs to explore any associations between dementia and laxative use and dementia risk. This study concluded that laxatives were potentially contributing factors.
One limitation of the study was its lack of laxative dosage data, meaning that exploring its relationship to dementia couldn’t take place.
