Dr. Hossam Mowafi, Professor of Critical Cases at the Faculty of Medicine, Kasr Al-Ainy, warned of a common wrong habit among many people, stressing that it has a close relationship with most cases of constipation.
Also read: 6 wrong daily habits that cause constipation
Muwafi said during his program “My Lord, Increase Me in Knowledge”, broadcast on Sada Al-Balad channel, that the habit he intends is not to defecate when he feels the urge to do so.
The professor of critical care medicine added that the bowel movement has a biological clock, explaining that each person feels the need to defecate at a specific time throughout the day, and must be responded to immediately.
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He explained that after a period of deliberate retention of stool, a defect occurs in the biological clock of bowel movement, stressing that failure to defecate when needed is the cause of constipation, with a rate ranging between 80 and 85%.
Muwafi explained the cause of constipation when regular in this habit, saying, “After a period of holding the stool, the body absorbs the water in it, which leads to an increase in its hardness, and then suffering from the difficulty of excretion.”
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He concluded his speech by pointing out that laxatives are not effective enough in treating this type of constipation, adding that the only way to get rid of it is to eat foods that help increase its size and make it softer, such as yogurt, prunes, black honey, rosehip and orange.
