Chronic Constipation, Diarrhea and Probiotics


Chronic constipation is not a well understood phenomenon as evidenced from the fact that nearly 20% of the population suffers from it in the United States. It is the author’s belief that chronic constipation persists because of a lack of understanding regarding the “microbiome” – the collection of symbiotic bacteria that live within the gut. Researchers, however, are starting to provide more evidence that supporting the microbiome is the key to optimal digestive health.


Diarrhea and the Microbiome


The Cochrane Systematic Review is a publication that searches through the breadth of scientific evidence on a topic in order to see if there is sufficient evidence to support treatment. A recent review looked at the treatment of diarrhea with probiotics. This is crucial because diarrhea kills nearly 2 million people each year (mainly young children) and the main treatment currently is rehydration therapy, which does not reduce the time frame of the diarrhea, and antibiotics, which are of minimal effectiveness.


The review found strong evidence supporting the use of probiotics to cure diarrhea. Of the over 63 trials examined (with more than 8,000 patients) some highlights were:


  • A study of day care centers showed that 20 billion CFUs of Lactobacillus Rhamnosus reduced illness by 40% compared to those not receiving treatment.
  • In a similar study with infants who had diarrhea that lasted more than 4 days, 10 billion CFUs of Lactobacillus acidophilus decreased the duration of the illness by 24% and for those infants not taking antibiotics, the duration of illness decreased even more, a whopping 43%.

    • Relating diarrhea to chronic constipation


    With this site focusing on chronic constipation, what is the point of looking at studies curing diarrhea? The answer is that both of these problems are able to be cured by addressing the microbiome. Notice that in the 2nd study above, the group taking the antibiotics actually had their illness last longer than those not taking it. We hypothesize that this is because antibiotics indiscriminately kill all bacteria in the microbiome, thereby weakening the beneficial bacteria’s ability to restore the gut to a natural balance.


    The same is true with chronic constipation. Many conventional treatments ignore the delicate bacterial balance that is crucial to producing healthy bowel movements. When this is thrown off by infection, diet, or antibiotics, constipation or diarrhea can result. A true constipation medicine or diarrhea medicine addresses this issue by providing probiotics to support healthy bacteria in the gut and to crowd out harmful bacteria. This is a targeted approach to ridding the body of harmful invaders as opposed to the “kill everything” approach that is often used currently.


    So the next time you have constipation nor diarrhea, don’t just pop an antibiotic or wait for it to go away – consider supporting your body’s microbiome with probiotics to shorten your illness and strengthen your immune system.