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Do you poop like clockwork, or are you backed up (pardon the pun) on the regular? If daily bowel movements are the stuff of dreams, know that achieving this goal won’t only ease digestive discomfort; it can also support long-term cognitive health.According to a study presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in July, chronic constipation (i.e., not having a bowel movement for three-plus days) was associated with a 73 percent higher chance of subjective cognitive decline—or the equivalent of three years of advanced cognitive aging—compared to participants who had a single BM daily.
To unpack this info, we reached out to Kenneth Brown, MD, a board-certified gastroenterologist based in Plano, Texas. Ahead, see if constipation actually worsens cognitive function and how to achieve real relief from brain-bowel blues in no time.
The link between long-term constipation, cognition, and mood
According to Dr. Brown, constipation doesn’t directly cause cognitive impairment. Instead, it’s symptomatic of underlying causes, such as:
- Side effects of medication
- Dehydration
- Underlying health conditions, such as hypothyroidism
Moreover, he says recent research illustrates that gut imbalances (aka dysbiosis) are often at play when constipation and issues with cognition intersect. “With a healthy microbiome, anti-inflammatory bioactive metabolites keep inflammation down and can cross the blood-brain barrier,” Dr. Brown explains. “The exact opposite happens, where an inflamed gut can produce inflammatory cytokines. These can have a direct effect by crossing the blood-brain barrier, leading to localized inflammation in the brain, resulting in decreased production of neurologic transmitters and increased oxidative stress.”
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