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Constipation, often dismissed as a minor or uncomfortable condition, may actually play a serious role in the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to a new study from China’s Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University.
The research, which followed 190 ALS patients, found that constipation was linked to worse outcomes, including faster disease progression and lower survival rates. The condition, already experienced by about half of ALS patients, has now been tied to a significantly poorer prognosis.
According to the study, 50% of the patients comprising 121 men and 69 women suffered from constipation. When comparing patients with and without the condition, researchers found that those with constipation were generally older, had a longer duration of illness, worse sleep quality, and higher rates of anxiety and depression.
What’s more alarming is how constipation correlated with ALS severity. Using the ALS Functional Rating Scale Revised (ALSFRS-R), the study showed that patients with constipation scored lower, suggesting greater disability and more rapid disease progression.
“These findings suggest that patients with ALS with constipation tend to have lower functional scores and experience more rapid disease progression, compared with patients with ALS without constipation,” the research team stated.
In a nine-month follow-up period, 38 of the 190 patients (25.3%) had died. Strikingly, 92.1% of those who died had experienced constipation. The findings revealed that ALS patients with constipation had significantly worse survival rates compared to those without it. Other factors such as the speed of ALS progression, sleep disturbances, and depression also influenced survival.
Although a direct causal relationship between ALS and constipation has yet to be officially recognized, gastrointestinal problems are a well-known side effect of the neurodegenerative disease. Experts believe that the dysfunction of nerves and muscles involved in digestion may contribute to constipation in ALS patients.
Constipation has also been linked more broadly to mental health concerns such as anxiety and depression, as well as to poor sleep factors that may further compound challenges for ALS patients.
Earlier this year, actor Eric Dane revealed his ALS diagnosis during an emotional appearance on Good Morning America. “I wake up every day and I’m immediately reminded that this is happening,” Dane said. “I don’t think this is the end of my story. I don’t feel like this is the end of me.”
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