You can upset your
electrolyte balance. Electrolytes are minerals like sodium, potassium
that are dissolved in the blood and other body fluids. They must be
present in very specific amounts for proper functioning of nerves and
muscles, including the heart muscle.
Laxatives and enemas (and
also vomiting) can upset this balance, resulting in muscle cramps,
tremors, spasms and in some cases cardiac arrest. The heart stops, and
unless the person receives immediate emergency medical treatment, s/he
dies.
Laxatives and enemas (and
also vomiting) remove needed fluid from the body. The resulting
dehydration can lead to tremors, weakness, blurry vision, fainting
spells, kidney damage, and in some cases death. Severe dehydration
requires medical treatment. Drinking fluid may not hydrate cells and
tissues quickly enough to prevent organ damage or death.
Laxatives irritate
intestinal nerve endings, which in turn stimulate muscle contractions
that move the irritant through the gut and out of the body. After a
while the nerve endings no longer respond to stimulation. The person
must now take greater and greater amounts of laxatives to produce bowel
movements. S/he has become laxative dependent and without them may not
have any bowel movements at all.
Laxatives and enemas
strip away protective mucus that lines the colon, leaving it vulnerable
to infection.
Enemas can stretch the
colon, which over time becomes a limp sack with no muscle tone. No
longer can it generate the muscle contractions necessary to move fecal
matter out of the body.
Laxatives abusers seem to
have more trouble with the following problems than do non-users:-
irritable bowel
syndrome (rectal pain, gas, episodes of constipation and diarrhoea)
bowel tumours (both benign and cancerous).
