This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Donna M. Lisi, PharmD
East Orange, NJ

Arch Intern Med. 1994;154(4):461-465.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

I read with interest the recent article by Monane et al¹ on anticholinergic drug use and bowel function in nursing home patients. While I concur with the conclusion that there is an association between anticholinergic drug use and constipation among long-term care residents, I question the methods that were used. Diagnosing the presence of a medical condition by the manner in which the patient is treated may be misleading, especially in the case of constipation, a problem whose definition is very subjective and in which habituation (physical and, in some cases, psychological) may perpetuate chronic drug use. For many elderly, cleansing the colon of bacteria and toxins by the use of daily laxatives with or without frequent enemas may be common practice since during the last century the concept that sluggish bowels gave rise to autointoxication had gained significant acceptance.² Granted that, in an institutionalized setting the nursing . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?