Why Are So Many OVER-60s CONSTIPATED?

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]Constipation is a huge issue for people over the age of 60. We're going to tell you three reasons why and three things you can do about it. Dr. Dan, what is the number three reason that people are becoming so constipated?

[00:00:14]>> Yeah, this is an absolutely massive problem and I encounter this daily when I'm in the hospital. I'll get a call from the nurse or a patient will complain and I know that this is a huge problem in the community as well, primary care. And the question is why does this happen? Of course, functional changes happen with age, but there are many reversible causes why. So, number three on our list, dehydration. You may not be fully aware of this because I don't think the medical profession stresses it enough, but it is a massive reason why many people over the age of 60, especially, are constipated and that is not drinking enough water. Fluids are, of course, needed within the gastrointestinal tract keep everything moving, make sure that the matter in there does not become too hardened, difficult to pass through. And this is common sense on many levels, but sadly so many of the population are dehydrated. I've I've seen some appalling statistics. Over 80% of people over the age of 65 in some studies who are walking around dehydrated.

[00:01:20]What I usually advise because this is a common problem that I end up talking about is I'm not a big fan of any hard and fast number saying you have to drink so many liters, so many ounces a day because obviously it varies according to age, your activity levels, whether you're a a male or female. But what I usually like as a general rule is saying several glasses of fluids every day unless you have a medical reason why you can't consume that. So, you take a standard glass, at least several glasses a day, ideally water. If you don't like the taste of water, you can put some lemon in it, that's what I do, or some hydration powder. There's many things you can do. Any fluid alone will help, but water would be the best one. Chronic dehydration really strive and I know sometimes you have to push yourself at least several glasses of water every day spaced out during the day.

[00:02:09]>> Well, it's a huge problem. And you have to understand much of your water is absorbed from your intestines. So, when you take in water your intestines, that's where a lot of the process occurs where water is absorbed into the rest of your body. So, if you're not taking enough in, you can imagine a lot of this water is being reabsorbed into your body, the stool is getting very, very hard. Once you get into that position, pretty hard to get out of it. So, many of you have probably experienced this.

[00:02:33]Once you get constipated, it can be a really tough problem to fix. And man, is it incredibly uncomfortable. So, staying hydrated something you have to do consistently. Now, one of the other things you can look at, as you said, you can make sure you're taking multiple glasses of water a day, but the other thing you can do is look at your urine.

[00:02:49]If it's turning darker and darker and darker, or when you stand up you're getting very light-headed, these are often signs you're pretty dehydrated.

[00:02:57]There's another test you can do called skin turgor where you can go like this and if your skin stays up, it won't come back down very quickly, that sometimes means you're pretty dehydrated as well.

[00:03:07]So, these are good ways to figure out if you're getting enough water in. And yes, it can be a huge cause.

[00:03:12]>> Oh, yes, it can. Yes. So, it's so simple and we've lost touch of these simple things. Just drink enough fluids keep yourself hydrated, make sure all your bodily processes moving along. And the default sadly in modern day society is oh, reach for the prescription, not think about all these other factors that are contributing.

[00:03:32]Dehydration is an absolutely massive one. So, I would say whether or not you're constipated, that's great advice, but especially if you are constipated, think about your fluid intake very carefully.

[00:03:44]>> Well, I'm glad you just said reach for the prescription because that leads us nicely into our number two here, medications. Medications are a huge cause of constipation. There are multiple medications, you're probably on some of them, which absolutely can worsen or itself cause constipation.

[00:04:02]Some of these are the diuretic medications, those dehydrate you, which we just talked about. Others are the anticholinergics, we can talk about those. Others are antidepressants, which can cause pretty profound constipation, and sometimes some of the blood pressure medications as well.

[00:04:20]>> Yeah, absolutely. I'm glad you mentioned. So, anticholinergic, it's a a long medical scientific big name, but it simply means a group of drugs which exert a specific effect. So, if you think about anticholinergics like this, they kind of work against all the processes which are generating fluid and activity in your body, and they basically help to stop that, and that's part of their effect. And lots of antidepressant psychiatric medications are in this category. That's why a lot of people get a dry mouth. So, you imagine that going on in the colon as well. Now, the statistics on prescriptions, especially over the age of 60, are staggering. Over 90% of people on at least one drug, and 50% or more on five or more prescriptions. And you think about all of these interactions, the anticholinergic effects. But, of course, we live in a society where the default is, "Oh, let's go for another drug." But, not saying, "Well, firstly, is the medication required in the first place?" We're not saying a medication is definitely not required. There may be a reason why you need a medication which exerts an anticholinergic effect and constipates.

[00:05:27]But, lots of these medications, and I know Dr. Ben's of the same opinion, are over-prescribed, and many people can safely be weaned off under medical supervision.

[00:05:37]>> I completely agree. If you're suffering from constipation, and it's consistent, one of the first things I would do is go through all your medications, and figure out You can do your own research You can say, "Hey, did that Does this medication cause constipation?" You can figure that out. And if it does, I would absolutely talk to your doctor and say, "Hey, look, I know that this medication, this one, and this one are all causing constipation. I'm experiencing that.

[00:06:00]What can we do about this?" Because it is it's crazy to just sit there and suffer from it if it could be one of your medications that could be switched or maybe stopped.

[00:06:08]>> That's right. And if you can't find a good local doctor to go over your list, which we know is an increasing problem, getting appointments, even finding a primary care doctor who knows you, I would highly suggest going to a pharmacist. They are an underutilized resource. Pharmacists are excellent, and they can tell you very, very quickly, going over your list, of course, do your own research. You can even use ChatGPT or something, but also speak to a pharmacist, and they can guide you and tell you the questions that you can ask your doctor to think about this. And this video may not even be for you. It might be more so for a loved one. Maybe you've got a loved one. Many Many people have loved ones who are really suffering above a certain age. But we live in a a pill-happy culture where pills cause a problem often, and then pills are used to counteract the problem, and then that pill comes with a side effect. It It's a bizarre situation we're in.

[00:07:04]>> It's tragic, but the good news is you're listening, you're researching. That's your first step getting out. Number one, probably the most important thing you can do to help with constipation, Dr. Dan.

[00:07:16]>> Drum roll.

[00:07:18]Physical activity.

[00:07:20]This is not talked about anywhere nearly enough. So, let me outline a daily scenario for you. I will have a patient in the hospital who is from some type of facility. Could be assisted living, nursing home. They've got medical problems. And they are really suffering with constipation, but they're barely moving. They're bed-bound. They're barely even getting up into the chair, and that could happen. Unfortunately, hospitals everywhere This is a universal problem in different countries are chronically understaffed. They're not investing in mobility aids, physical therapists, and people are just lying in bed. And obviously, again, coming back to common sense, if you're not moving, the effect of gravity cannot be working on your gastrointestinal system, and it's just awful. This is happening everywhere. You have these people who are in their golden years, and they are just being prescribed such strong medications in the hospital, really powerful laxatives, to get things going from basically the fact that they're not moving, and they could be at least just sitting up, sitting in a chair, maybe walking a few steps, and that would really help. In fact, I always advise hospitalized patients who are recovering from any sort of gastrointestinal illness to sit up in the chair. And the surgeons that I've worked with do the same thing. Sit up in the chair. Start moving. Get everything going. Because the absolute worst thing you can do is not move enough. And if you're at home, even if you're not in the hospital, get your 10,000 steps in if you're able to count steps and walk that far, or as many steps as you can. The more you move, the less likely you are to be constipated. How many members of the medical profession really stress that?

[00:09:05]>> It's unbelievably important. I see so much more constipation with sedentary patients than I do with people who are walking regularly, moving regularly, have exercise routines.

[00:09:17]People that get good physical activity encounter this problem less. It's absolutely true. So, that has to be one of your main focuses is trying to move around. I'm telling you, that's going to help you fix this problem.

[00:09:30]Well, I hope you enjoyed this. I hope this helps you solve this problem without medications. I think if you're able to work on all three of these, there's a good chance you're going to make a big difference on this.

[00:09:42]Please come and join us again soon.

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