Thirty percent of people older than 60 take laxatives regularly and about three percent overuse them dangerously, Geriatrics (40#10:5) reports. Overuse of laxatives is like a drug addiction in that the body becomes dependent upon them, as it is alternately overstimulated, then abnormally quieted.

This latter phase is often accompanied by an uncomfortable sensation of being bloated, which encourages the person to take another dose of laxative just at the time when it is not needed. Drastically overstimulated in this way, the intestine wall leaks excessive amounts of body fluid, which are eliminated as watery stools. Evacuated with the stools are vital minerals, which are not easily replaced in older persons. One such mineral is calcium (see the next section), which is particularly harmful since osteoporosis from loss of bone calcium is already a problem for the elderly.

Accordingly, we should regulate our bowels by dietary means alone, using fluid, salad, fruit, bran, etc., or we are likely to have trouble with our bones in old age.

*7\143\2*

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