Viruses can cause chronic constipation? You bet

There’s nothing quite as frustrating as chronic constipation….

And if you’re one of the millions of Americans who’s experienced it, you know just how bad it is — the stomach pain, the strain and the hours of time wasted away in the bathroom.

But chronic constipation is more than uncomfortable — it’s a hazard to your health.

When you’re constipated, the toxins and waste that your body should be removing stagnate in your intestines. This magnifies your toxic load big time and puts you at risk for serious diseases — like colon cancer.

And then there’s also the possibility of developing painful constipation complications like hemorrhoids (inflamed veins in your anus and rectum) and anal fissures (tears in your anus).

So unless you want to watch your health gradually go down the tubes, there’s no time to waste when it comes to getting your chronic constipation under control.

Now there are a lot of culprits that could be at the root of your constipation… a diet that’s too low in fiber, certain medications, dehydration, food allergies…

But if you’ve already ruled all of these things out as the cause, then you’ll be especially interested to learn what researchers from Yale University just figured out…

They uncovered a rather surprising cause of chronic, unexplained constipation…

The herpes virus.

After noticing that a lot of people with herpes also have chronic constipation, these researchers decided to probe into the relationship further…

What they found was that the herpes virus has the ability to spread from your genitals to the nerves of your spinal cord and from there to the neurons in your colon.

After it makes its way to your colon, it proceeds to kill those neurons, which seriously hampers your body’s ability to move food waste through your digestive tract and leads to chronic constipation.

But the herpes virus isn’t the only virus that has this ability. Researchers found several other viruses in the herpes family in the colon neurons of people experiencing chronic constipation without an obvious explanation — including common viruses like the Epstein-Barr virus, the chicken pox virus and the cytomegalovirus.

So if you’re dealing with chronic constipation you may want to consider adding a few natural antivirals to your vitamin chest, to reduce the effects of lingering viral. Some of the most potent options are zinc, oregano oil, olive leaf extract and prickly ash bark.

Sources:
  1. “Diseases and Conditions: Constipation.” The Mayo Clinic. http://www.mayoclinic.org. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  2. Khoury-Hanold, B. Yordy, P. Kong, Y. Kong, W. Ge, K. Szigeti-Buck, A. Ralevski, T. L. Horvath, A. Iwasaki. “Viral Spread to Enteric Neurons Links Genital HSV-1 Infection to Toxic Megacolon and Lethality.” Cell Host & Microbe. Volume 19, Issue 6, p788–799, 8 June 2016.
Jenny Smiechowski

By Jenny Smiechowski

Jenny Smiechowski is a Chicago-based freelance writer who specializes in health, nutrition and the environment. Her work has appeared in online and print publications like Chicagoland Gardening magazine, Organic Lifestyle Magazine, BetterLife Magazine, TheFix.com, Hybridcars.com and Seedstock.com.

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