A new study has found a link between the use of certain types of laxative use and dementia risk.
Investigators analyzed data from more than 500,000 people in the UK Biobank aged 40 to 69 years. Participants did not have a diagnosis of dementia at the study’s start. More than 18,000, or about 3.6%, used a laxative regularly (most days of the week) in the month before the study.
Over 10 years on average, 1.3% of study participants who regularly took laxatives developed dementia compared to 0.4% participants who did not use laxatives, a statistically significant difference.
Analyses showed that regular use of laxatives was associated with an increased risk of all-cause dementia and vascular dementia, but not Alzheimer’s disease, investigators reported.
The more types of laxatives regularly used, the higher the odds of dementia, the researchers noted. In addition, among those who reported taking just one type of laxative, only osmotic laxatives were shown increase risk, with a 64% increase in all-cause dementia and vascular dementia compared to those who did not use laxatives. Dosage information for laxatives was not available.
“Constipation and laxative use are common among middle-aged and older adults,” said study author Feng Sha, PhD, of the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Guangdong, China. “However, regular laxative use may change the microbiome of the gut, possibly affecting nerve signaling from the gut to the brain or increasing the production of intestinal toxins that may affect the brain.”
If the findings are confirmed, clinicians could encourage their patients to adopt lifestyle changes to treat constipation, such as “drinking more water, increasing dietary fiber and adding more activity into their daily lives,” Sha said in a statement.
Full findings were published in the journal Neurology.
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