Constipation can leave children mentally scarred for life | Letters

Dr Ieuan Davies on the need to address the problem early and effectively, and Jacqueline Simpson on the importance of exercise and communicationYour report and quotes in it from Prof Monica Lakhanpaul emphasise the health burden and personal misery for young people and their families due to constipation and related complications (Primary-age child constipation rates up 60% in England, 18 February). Meanwhile, the services to prevent or treat this problem remain utterly inadequate across the UK.Unless constipation is addressed early and effectively, some children can rapidly develop a “megarectum”. They lose the sensation that might give them the urge to defecate when necessary. This, combined with behavioural problems inherent in this presentation, can lead to overflow soiling and chronic faecal incontinence. Continue reading...