Laxatives Could Increase the Risk of Dementia

The study involved 502,229 people in the UK biobank database with an average age of 57 who did not have dementia at the start of the study. Of this group, 18,235 people, or 3.6%, reported regularly using over-the-counter laxatives. Regular use was defined as using a laxative most days of the week during the month before the study.

Laxatives and their Association with Dementia

On an average of 10 years, 218 of those who regularly used laxatives, or 1.3%, developed dementia. Of those who did not regularly use laxatives, 1,969 people, or 0.4%, developed dementia.

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After adjusting for factors such as age, sex, education, other illnesses, medication use, and a family history of dementia, researchers found people who regularly used laxatives had a 51% increased risk of overall dementia compared to people who did not regularly use laxatives.

The risk of dementia could also increase with the number of laxative types used. For people using one type of laxative, there was a 28% increased risk, compared to a 90% increased risk for people taking two or more types of laxatives.

Osmotic Laxatives Might be the Worst Type

However, among people using only one type, only those taking osmotic laxatives had a heightened risk, with a 64% increase compared to those who did not use laxatives.

“Finding ways to reduce a person’s risk of dementia by identifying risk factors that can be modified is crucial,” said Sha. “More research is needed to further investigate the link our research found between laxatives and dementia. If our findings are confirmed, medical professionals could encourage people to treat constipation by making lifestyle changes such as drinking more water, increasing dietary fiber and adding more activity into their daily lives.”

A limitation of the study is that dosage information for laxatives was not available, so researchers could not explore the relationship between various laxative dosages and dementia.

Reference:

1. Association Between Regular Laxative Use and Incident Dementia in UK Biobank Participants – (https:n.neurology.org/content/early/2023/02/22/WNL.0000000000207081)

Source: Medindia