Regarding health, some might think that heart disease and digestive issues are separate. A common issue with digestion is constipation. Although constipation could feel like a minor inconvenience, new research suggests it could be linked to something much more severe. According to a large-scale study of over 400,000 people in the UK, individuals with constipation have a significantly higher risk of experiencing major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) like heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure.
The researchers focused on participants with constipation and compared them to individuals with regular bowel movements to see if constipation was linked to an increased risk of MACEs. They discovered that people with constipation had a significantly higher risk of experiencing MACEs compared to those without constipation. Those with constipation had a 2.72 times higher risk of heart failure. The risk of ischemic stroke was 2.36 times higher, and a 1.62 times higher risk of ACS, a condition that includes heart attacks. For hypertensive individuals, constipation raised the risk even further.
Researchers believe that there could be a link between constipation and heart disease because they share common risk factors like inflammation, poor diet, and a sedentary lifestyle. Constipation can also disrupt the gut microbiome, leading to inflammation that can affect heart health. Chronic constipation often involves low-grade inflammation and immune activation. Inflammation is a critical factor in developing arterial plaques and high blood pressure. Additionally, constipation might signal issues in the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS controls involuntary bodily functions and regulates heart rate and gut motility. Changes in the ANS can impact blood pressure and heart rate variability, which are critical factors in heart health. Finally, low dietary fiber intake and dehydration are also risk factors for heart disease.
Eating more fiber, drinking a lot of water, and staying active to ensure a healthy digestive system and heart health could be beneficial if you struggle with constipation.
Koehle, M. S. (2024). Physiological impacts of atmospheric pollution: Effects of environmental air pollution on exercise. Physiological Reports, 12(7), e16005.
Hi Michelle! This is such an interesting post. When reading through this, I kept asking myself "I wonder how constipation contributes to higher risk of MACEs" and I think you answered that question by the end of the post. Part of me also wonders if it has to do with how the body absorbs different things from waste through the small intestine and large intestine. Dehydration would make the body more likely to absorb as much water as possible through waste, which seems to have a significant correlation to MACEs. I wonder if there are more studies on this trying to figure out other causes of the higher risk?
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