What causes constipation? - Heba Shaheed

翻译人员: Qikai Guo 校对人员: Echo Yang

Visiting the bathroom is part of the daily human experience.

去洗手间是人日常生活的部分。

But occasionally, constipation strikes,

但是便秘偶尔会发生，

a condition that causes a backup in your digestive system.

便秘会引起消化系统阻塞。

The food you eat can take several days to exit your body.

你吃的食物会花几天来排出身体。

And for many, constipation can become chronic,

大部分时候便秘是慢性的，

meaning regularly passing lumpy hard stools accompanied by straining.

意味着你经常要用力排出 粗硬的粪便。

What's behind this unsettling phenomenon?

那这令人不悦的体验是 如何产生的呢？

Constipation arises in the colon, also known as the large intestine.

便秘产生于结肠， 通常也叫大肠。

This muscular organ is split into four sections:

这个肌肉发达的器官 由四部分组成：

the ascending,

上行结肠

transverse,

横行结肠

descending,

下行结肠

and sigmoid colon,

还有乙状结肠

which connects with the rectum and anus.

它连接了直肠和肛门。

The small intestine delivers stool

小肠把含有

consisting of ingested food, bile, and digestive juices

摄取的食物、胆汁和消化液的粪便

to the large intestine.

运送到大肠。

As this stool moves through the colon,

随着这些粪便在结肠中移动，

the organ siphons off most of the water it contains,

结肠会吸取出其中的大部分水分，

transforming it from liquid to solid.

把它从液体转为固体。

The longer this transmission takes,

转化的时间越长，

the more reabsorption occurs, resulting in increasingly solid stool.

重吸收程度越大， 粪便也会变得越来越硬。

Once it reaches the sigmoid colon,

等它到达乙状结肠后，

a final bout of reabsorption occurs before it enters the rectum,

会在进入直肠前被最后一次重吸收，

distending its walls and telling the internal anal sphincter to relax.

并扩大直肠壁 指示肛门内侧括约肌放松。

This is the point where you can usually decide whether to physically expel

这时候通常你会思考 是要上厕所，

or retain the stool.

还是憋着。

That’s regulated by the pelvic floor muscles,

这通常由盆底肌控制，

particularly the puborectalis

确切地说是耻骨直肠肌，

and external anal sphincter.

以及肛门外侧括约肌。

The puborectalis forms a sling-like formation around the rectum

耻骨直肠肌与直肠 形成类似吊索的结构，

called the anorectal angle.

叫做肛肠角。

And when you voluntarily relax your external anal sphincter,

当你主动放松肛门外侧括约肌时，

the stool is finally expelled.

粪便就会被排出。

When you’re constipated, however,

然而当你便秘时，

a desire to visit the bathroom isn't enough to coax your body into action.

想上洗手间的冲动不足以 让你的身体做出反应。

Usually there's two factors behind this problem:

这通常由两个原因引起：

the stool’s slow movement through the colon

粪便在结肠的移动过于缓慢，

and/or pelvic floor dysfunction.

或骨盆底功能紊乱， 抑或两者同时。

In the first, stool moves excessively slowly through the intestines,

第一种， 粪便在肠道中移动的过于缓慢，

causing over-absorption of liquid, which makes the stool dry and hard.

导致过度吸收液体 使粪便变干变硬。

With pelvic floor dysfunction,

而骨盆底功能紊乱时，

stool becomes difficult to eliminate from the rectum

粪便变得很难从直肠中排出。

because of tightened pelvic floor muscles, or due to a pelvic organ prolapse,

原因可能是盆底肌过分紧张

或者骨盆器官下垂。

usually through childbirth or aging.

这种情况大多是因为分娩或是人体老化，

两者都会使肛肠角更小，

Both of these problems make the anorectal angle more acute

and it becomes difficult to expel waste.

粪便也会难以排出。

To identify constipation precisely,

为了更好地认识便秘，

researchers have developed metrics, such as the Bristol Stool Chart.

研究者发明了一些比如 布里斯托排便表的衡量法。

Most people who look at that chart

大部分人看到图表

will be able to tell they’ve experienced constipation before.

都会说他们之前有过便秘。

When you’re on the toilet, you should ideally be in a squatting position.

当你坐在马桶上时， 理想状态下你应该是蹲姿。

With your buttocks firmly on the toilet seat,

臀部应牢坐在马桶上时，

you can elevate your feet on a stool

你可以把脚抬放在小凳子上，

and lean forwards with a straight back,

向前倾让背挺直，

which straightens the anorectal angle and eases the passage of waste.

这样会挺直肛肠角 让排便更通畅。

Going a day without a bowel movement isn’t necessarily cause for alarm.

一天不排便并不会有很大，

But if you are experiencing chronic constipation,

但如果你被慢性便秘折磨，

simple dietary and lifestyle changes,

只需改善饮食和生活习惯，

like fibrous vegetables,

比如摄入高纤维蔬菜，

regular exercise,

定期运动，

abdominal massage,

按摩腹部，

and 6 to 8 cups of water per day

以及每天6-8杯水，

may help restore your daily trip to the toilet.

都会对你每日的排便有所帮助。