Are Concepts About Constipation and Dietary Fiber Changing?

• Main Authors: Shahram Manoochehry (Author), Hamid Reza Rasouli (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, 2017-05-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.15171/HPR.2017.14; 2476-390X; 2476-3918
• Keywords: Diet; Fiber; Medicine; R; Internal medicine; RC31-1245
• Source: Hospital Practices and Research, Vol 2, Iss 2, Pp 56-56 (2017)

After reading in detail the valuable review article by Korgh et al1 regarding chronic constipation management, we would like to mention some new points about chronic constipation which were not considered in this review. A high fiber diet was mentioned as a component of lifestyle modification and a main part of slow transit constipation therapy.2 Recently, a new concept has suggested that a high fiber diet is an aggravator of not only constipation, but also other colorectal disorders such as diverticulosis. It has been reported that reducing or eliminating fiber from one's diet can alleviate chronic constipation and its associated symptoms.3,4 The oral consumption of probiotics is reported to reduce chronic constipation severity.5 As there are 2 opposing ideas about the role of dietary fiber in chronic constipation therapy, it seems there is no absolute conclusion regarding it. There may be 2 types of chronic constipation patients: responders to a high fiber diet and non-responders to it. A person's response to high fiber therapy may be relevant to large bowel microbial flora or to the gas formation of this flora (flatulence), as it is reported that probiotics play a positive role in constipation treatment. Thus, the effects of colonic microflora (and its associated flatulence) in chronic constipation patients and their response to dietary fiber supplements seems a good and challenging subject for chronic constipation research.