RE: constipation causes gallstones

[Guest guest]

Not sure if this has been posted before...

Am J Gastroenterol. 1999 Aug;94(8):2010-6.

The metabolic consequences of slow colonic transit.

SJ, Heaton KW.

University Department of Medicine, University Hospital of Wales,

Cardiff.

Intestinal transit has a substantial influence on the enterohepatic

circulation of bile acids and steroid hormones, on colonic pH, and

on short chain fatty acid concentrations in the distal colon. Slow

transit is likely to favor disease processes that are related to

over-efficient enterohepatic recirculation and to lack of short

chain fatty acid in the distal colon. These include gallstones,

large bowel cancer, and possibly breast cancer. The best-documented

influence of slow colonic transit is on bile acid metabolism.

Slowing colonic transit increases deoxycholate and raises

cholesterol saturation of bile, making gallstone formation more

likely. In this review, we also examine the evidence that slow

colonic transit may be important in the etiology of large bowel and

breast cancer. There is a lack of data pertaining to the

relationship between colonic transit and diseases such as colon and

breast cancer. Should slow colonic transit prove to be a significant

factor in the etiology of such diseases, then the health of the

population might benefit from dietary and lifestyle changes that

speed up intestinal transit.

Publication Types:

* Review

* Review, Tutorial

PMID: 10445521 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]