United States: A new study reveals that constipation may raise the chances of advancing to a heart attack or stroke, especially if one has high blood pressure.
As researchers found, individuals with constipation had twice the risk of any severe heart-related issue compared to a person with normal bowel movements, as reported by HealthDay.
Increased Odds of Heart Failure and Stroke
For instance, they were 2.7 times as likely to have heart failure, 2.4 times as likely to have a stroke, and 1.6 times as likely to have a cardiac arrest or chest pain, the studies indicated.
Implications for Precision Medicine
Identifying this link could help scientists “discover new therapeutic interventions and implement more effective management strategies based on individual risk assessment in line with precision medicine principles,” wrote the research team led by Dr. Tenghao Zheng, a clinical data analyst at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia.
The Biobank comprises Electronic Health Records, lifestyle questionnaires, self-reported health status and medication, and usage.
Some previous scientific studies have revealed that constipation could increase the chances of developing high blood pressure and heart disease, according to background information.
The most recent review that was conducted established that constipation leads to heart-related health complications, especially in those with high blood pressure.
The details revealed that those with high BP along with constipation faced a 68% higher risk of major heart health issues in comparison to those with high BP only.
Genetic Links and Family History
Other studies by researchers also revealed that constipation runs in families, along with heart issues. For example, constipation has genetic relatedness between 21–27% to heart disease even though constipation is a heritable trait only 4% of the time.
The research was presented recently in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, and more investigation is needed to fully establish this link, according to the study’s authors, as reported by HealthDay.
“We identified constipation as a potential risk factor independently associated with higher MACE [major adverse cardiac events] prevalence,” the researchers wrote in a journal news release.
