Can the hot weather be constipation?

Summer is one of the seasons with high incidence of constipation, and many middle-aged and elderly people will be troubled by constipation in summer. Especially after entering the dog days, the weather gradually becomes hot and dry, and the human body is more prone to water shortage. In addition, modern people have less exercise, irregular diet, insufficient rest time and excessive fatigue. The number of people with constipation is rising sharply.

Modern medicine believes that constipation is not only an independent disease, but also a common symptom in the process of various acute and chronic diseases. It is mainly due to the conduction dysfunction of the large intestine, which is characterized by difficulty in defecation and prolonged defecation time or interval.

The prevalence of constipation in the population is as high as 27%, but only a small number of constipation patients will see a doctor. Constipation affects people of all ages. There are more women than men, and older people are more than young people and prime of life. Because of the high incidence of constipation and complicated etiology, patients often have a lot of distress, which will affect the quality of life in severe cases.

Many people don't treat constipation as a disease, but think it is a sub-health state. In fact, long-term constipation has a serious impact on the body, so we must pay attention to it. Long-term constipation can cause abdominal distension, loss of appetite and bad breath. Because harmful substances are produced in the body, dry stool will cause skin laceration of anal canal, and then bacterial infection can occur, forming anal fissure, hemorrhoids and rectal ulcer, increasing the incidence of rectal cancer.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that there are many reasons for constipation, which is located in the large intestine and closely related to the spleen, stomach, lung, liver and kidney. In the pre-Qin period, Huangdi Neijing recognized that constipation was related to spleen and stomach cold, intestinal heat and kidney disease. Later, Zhang Zhongjing had a comprehensive understanding of constipation, put forward different pathogenesis of cold and heat deficiency and excess, and established the treatment methods of different types of constipation, which established the basic principles for later doctors to treat constipation.

In summer, especially in dog days, people are prone to sweating. In addition, many people are used to gathering with friends at night, eating barbecue, drinking beer and eating cold and spicy food, which can easily make the turbid gas in the stomach not be discharged in time, which will lead to heat constipation.

The secret of heat is mostly that the stomach is too hot, which hurts the body fluid and loses the intestines. If you often eat spicy, fatty and sweet things, it will help the fire to generate heat and accumulate too much heat in the stomach. If the residual heat is not solved, it will wander in the gastrointestinal tract, leading to the burning of body fluid, poor transmission of body fluid, non-wetting of large intestine, dry intestine, combination of heat and dregs, difficulty in defecation and formation of heat secret.

Just like the water in the river was dried by the sun, the boat in the river ran aground without water. Therefore, the heat secret is mainly manifested as dry stool, abdominal distension and abdominal pain, dry mouth and bad breath, red face and upset, or feeling very hot, less urine and yellow color. More common in young people, strong, like to eat spicy, fried, barbecue people.

In addition, Su Wen's Theory of Five Zangs said: "The soul gate is also the ambassador of the five zang-organs, and Shui Gu can't hide for long." It is clearly pointed out that constipation is a large intestine disease, but all the five internal organs are related.

Spleen is the first of all yin, and because of Shui Gu's subtlety, it is the source of acquired yin of human body. The conduction of large intestine depends on the normal function of spleen in ascending and descending stomach. If the spleen and spleen are weak, the qi does not rise, the essence does not disperse, the stomach and body fluids are insufficient, and the intestines are dry, then the stool is dry and difficult to knot.

Therefore, if you overeat spicy food, it will lead to the accumulation of fiery evil in the stomach, leading to the loss of body fluid. Excessive loss of body fluid will lead to imbalance of qi and blood, deficiency of body fluid and blood can not moisten the large intestine, and the intestinal tract is dry and weak, resulting in difficulty in defecation. Just as the temperature is too high in summer, after the sun is exposed, the water in the soil is evaporated, which will lead to cracking and hardening of the land. When there is heat in the body, it will naturally dry the water in the intestine, and the intestine without water will become dry, and it will become more difficult to eliminate feces.

In addition, if the fiery evil comes up, it will cause dry mouth, bad breath, thirst, excessive drinking and other symptoms, and even chapped lips. This is also the reason why many patients with heat secrets are accompanied by dry mouth and bad breath.

Besides stomach, lung heat can also cause constipation. The main physiological function of lung is to declare descent. Lung governs water, that is, the distribution of body fluid mainly depends on the function of lung. The lung and the large intestine, with one viscera, one viscera, one yin and one yang, are intertwined with meridians to form an exterior-interior relationship and have physiological coordination. "On Blood Syndrome" records: "Lung moving heat to large intestine will be bound; If lung fluid is not wet, it will be bound; If the lung qi does not fall, it will be tied. "

The lung is a very delicate organ, which is not resistant to cold and heat, and summer is the time when summer evil is flourishing, and with the popularization of air conditioning, people are easily attacked by external evil. If wind-heat invades the lungs, or wind-cold stagnation turns into heat, it is confined to the lungs. Lung heat can lead to impaired lung function and body fluid, resulting in insufficient body fluid in large intestine and dry stool.

Many constipation patients will use "purgation" to treat constipation. However, as early as the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, Li Dongyuan emphasized that laxatives should not be used for constipation. For example, "The Secret Collection of the Blue Room: Dry Doors" said: "Generally speaking, don't use croton and Petunia to treat diseases, which will damage the body fluid, and the dryness will become heavier and heavier, and even lead to the next time, which cannot be saved."

Therefore, Chinese medicine often adopts the method of clearing heat and relaxing bowels in the treatment of heat secret, but it should not be paranoid about purging fire and relaxing bowels, but should also take into account nourishing yin and consolidating the foundation. Sanren decoction is a commonly used prescription for clearing heat and promoting diuresis in clinic. On the basis of this prescription, it can also be used to treat chronic constipation caused by damp heat. This prescription takes Amomum villosum, Coix lachryma-jobi and almond as the monarch. Almonds have the effects of relaxing bowels and dispersing lung qi. Amomum villosum has a fragrant smell, which can dispel dampness and calm the temper. Coix lachryma-jobi can clear away heat and promote diuresis, so that damp-heat comes out with urine. Combining the three, the evil of damp-heat can be solved from the upper, middle and lower triple energizer. Taking talc, magnolia bark, Pinellia ternate, Akebia stem and bamboo leaves as ministers. Fly talcum can clear away damp heat, Akebia manshuriensis and bamboo leaves can slightly penetrate to remove dampness, and Pinellia ternata and Magnolia officinalis can remove dampness. The combination of the above four herbs is helpful to clear away damp-heat, assist monarch drugs and improve curative effect. Modern pharmacological research also shows that almond, nutmeg and coix seed all contain a variety of oil substances, which have a good laxative effect.

It should be emphasized that among many constipation patients, only a few patients will choose to go to the hospital for medical treatment, and most patients will choose to take their own medicine or take other remedies. Such as steaming bananas, drinking honey water on an empty stomach, boiling water with lotus leaves and mulberry leaves, and so on. However, most of these methods can only relieve constipation, but can't cure constipation.

Chinese medicine pays attention to dialectical thinking. There are many types of constipation, and the viscera involved are different. Some methods are not symptomatic, not only ineffective, but also may aggravate constipation. Therefore, when constipation occurs, you need to consult a professional doctor, treat it according to syndrome differentiation, and prescribe the right medicine.