As a doctor, friends often ask me for medical advices. It came to my notice that a lot of young women are plagued by constipation, although many cases are not severe enough to require medication, but basic recommendations such as eating more fruits and vegetables, drinking plenty of water and exercising are not helping. One important factor is timing. A flight attendant, for example, has her toilet time messed up by work frequently. Assuming a flight from Hong Kong to Toronto, flight time of ~14 hours, she has to report duty 2 hours before departure, and takes another hour to get to hotel after arrival. That is a total of 17 hours when she could not or prefer not to go to the toilet even if her body urges her to. After completion of 17 hours work, both physically and mentally exhausted, would she rather sleep or poop at the hotel? By the time she wakes up, the urge is gone. Besides, location is an important factor, despite how nice a hotel room toilet is, a toilet in an unfamiliar environment is always screaming “it does not feel like home!” Furthermore, her physiological clock is constantly disrupted due to time differences between cities.
Habitual constipation can cause tummy bloating, because the accumulation of feces in the colon. Feces increase intestinal bacteria cause bad breath. Most people have constipation are helpless and embarrassed, and there could be severe emotional stress, sleep disorders and depression.
Coming back to business women, most cases are not as bad as aforesaid, but work messing with toilet time seems inevitable. In fact, to solve the problem, the most basic thing is to follow your “gut”. When your body tells you to go, you go. If you’re accustomed to “ignore” it, the rectum (lowest part of the colon) will gradually get used to store the feces, feces staying in the large bowel for a long time will harden, leading to a vicious cycle. Of course, eating high-fiber foods (such as cranberries, prunes, pear skin, green beans, broccoli, wheat bran, oat bran, rice bran, etc.) plus drinking enough water can soften the stool. I recommend daily consumption of 6-8 glasses of water, warm water than cold water helps stimulate bowel movement, and reduce drinking coffee and alcohol because both cause moisture loss. Exercise, as simple as 30 minutes of brisk walking, can help stimulate intestinal peristalsis. Finally, the best action is to develop a regular toilet habit. At the same time each day, set aside 20 minutes to sit in the toilet at home, the best time is half an hour after eating, because eating stimulates large bowel movement, especially after breakfast. In time, your bowel movement would run like a German train schedule.
Hope these points can help some of you.
Blog: dr-ernest.net
有口難言
作為醫生，身邊朋友經常都會向我詢問一些醫學問題。原來好多年輕女性都受便秘困擾，雖然很多個案也未必未嚴重到需要服藥解決，但基本建議如多食蔬果、喝水和運動對他們的幫助有限，最重要還是時間性。
以一位空中服務員為例，她的如廁時間非常受出勤工作影響，假設由香港飛往多倫多，機程要14小時，起飛前2小時要回公司報到，落機後要約一小時才到酒店。如果上班前無大便，在航程上又因為當值而忘記了，起碼要忍17小時。當她完成17小時工作後，身心俱憊，到當地酒店應該便已倒頭大睡？睡醒時，早前的便意經已消失，再加上時差因素，生理時鐘也未適應而打亂了。此外，地點也是重要因素，先說機內廁所衛生情況只屬一般，而無論下榻酒店如何星級，一踏入陌生環境的洗手間，只可軟嘆 “it never feels like home！”。好了！幾天後當身體已適應了當地時差後，又要回港，就是這樣幾天她也沒有排便了。
習慣性便秘會導致腹脤，原因是結腸積聚了宿便。宿便會增加腸道細菌導致有口氣。一般人面對便秘是無奈又尷尬，但嚴重者會有情緒緊張，睡眠失調和憂鬱症。
說回在職女性，大部份情況應沒有上述般糟糕，但因為工作而影響如廁時間在所難免。其實要解決問題，最基本是有便意就應該上洗手間。如果你習慣了「忽視」便意，直腸漸漸地習慣了儲存大便，便意就隨之減少，當大便在大腸停留久了便會變硬，導致惡性循環。當然多吃高纖食物(如紅莓，西梅，梨連皮，青豆，西蘭花，麥糠，燕麥糠，米糠等)加上多飲足夠水分是可以軟化大便。每日最少要喝6至8杯水，天氣炎熱時或多汗者要喝多些。喝暖水比喝冷水更能夠幫助刺激正常的腸道蠕動。受便秘問題困擾者就要減少喝咖啡及酒，因為兩者會使水分流失。運動方面，簡單如30分鐘的急步行，可以幫助刺激腸道蠕動，也可減少便秘。最後，最理想當然是養成有規律的上洗手間習慣。每天在同一時間預留20分鐘安坐於家中洗手間，最好當然是進食後半小時，因為在進食時大腸蠕動幅度比較大的，特別是早餐後最容易有便意。久而久之養成習慣便可。
除非你是空中服務員或因公事常常出差，但以上意見應該可幫到一班備便秘因擾的在職女性朋友。如往外地工，最有效的方法就盡快適應時差，回復正常生活規律。
Blog: dr-ernest.net
