Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are components that loosen stools and enhance bowel Activities. They are used to treat and prevent constipation.
Laxatives vary as to how they work and the side outcomes they may have. Certain stimulant, lubricant, and saline laxatives are used to evacuate the colon for rectal and bowel examinations and may be supplemented by enemas under certain Cases. Sufficiently high doses of laxatives may cause diarrhea.
Some laxatives integrate more than one active ingredient.
Laxatives may be administered orally or rectally.
Effectiveness
For adults, a randomized controlled trial found PEG (MiraLax or GlycoLax) 17 grams once per day to be advanced to tegaserod at 6 mg style per day. A randomized controlled trial found a better machine from two sachets (26 grams) of PEG with regards to two sachets (20 grams) of lactulose. 17 grams per day of PEG has been effective and safe in a randomized controlled trial for six months. An extra randomized controlled trial found no distinction between sorbitol and lactulose.
For children, PEG was found to be more effective than lactulose.
Old and non-mainstream medical use
Laxatives, then called physicks or purgatives, were used notably in pre-modern medicine to treat a wide range of condominium for which they are now commonly regarded as useless in taking care of evidence-based medicine. Likewise, laxatives (often termed colon cleanses) continue to be promoted by practitioners of alternative medicine for a range of Condominium, inclusive of circumstances that are not medically Diagnosed, e.g. mucoid plaque.