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A member asked:
What is official diagnosis for laxative abuse? does that include enemas?
A doctor has provided 1 answer
Types of abusers: Two patient groups (both will deny laxative ingestion): bulemia nervosa (typically women 18-40), & surreptitious laxative abusers (usually women 40-60). "irritant" purgatives cause: melanosis coli (reversible pigmenting of colon lining), cathartic colon ("floppy" colon with limited muscle tone), & soap or chemical colitis (acute inflammation within hours of "cleansing" enema). Suspects need eval.
Answered 6/23/2020
5.9k views
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