LAXATIVES
A laxative is a medication used to produce bowel movements. Laxative overdose occurs when someone accidentally or intentionally takes more than the normal or recommended amount of this medication. Most laxative overdoses in children are accidental. However, some teenagers and adults abuse laxatives by regularly taking overdoses in an effort to lose weight.
Laxative Abuse
Laxatives (or purgatives) are foods, compounds, or drugs taken to induce bowel movements or to loosen the stool, most often taken to treat constipation. Certain stimulant, lubricant, and saline laxatives are used to evacuate the colon for rectal and bowel examinations, and may be supplemented by enemas in that circumstance. Sufficiently high doses of laxatives will cause diarrhea. Laxatives work to hasten the elimination of undigested remains of food in the large intestine and colon.
Laxative Agents for Colon
There are several types of laxatives, listed below. Some laxatives combine more than one type of active ingredient to produce a combination of the effects mentioned. Laxatives may be oral or in suppository form.
- 1 Vegetables and foods
- 2 Bulk-producing agents
- 3 Stool softeners / Surfactants
- 4 Lubricants / Emollient
- 5 Hydrating agents (osmotics)
- 5.1 Saline
- 5.2 Hyperosmotic agents
- 5.2.1 Effectiveness
- 6 Stimulant / Irritant
- 6.1 Castor oil
- 7 Serotonin agonist
