Question

You are a research assistant at a pharmaceutical company. Your group has been asked to develop an effective laxative that (1) provides fiber and (2) is nonirritating to the intestinal mucosa.

a. Describe what would happen if fiber was not part of the laxative.

b. Describe what would happen if the laxative irritated the intestinal wall.

Answer 1

Answer a: If there is no fibre in the laxative then it would lead to constipation. Fibre in the laxative acts as an bulk forming agent. Laxative with fibres increases the bulk of the stool, it aborbs water in the stool and makes it softer which further helps in easier passage of stools in the large intestine. Hence, if fibre is not there in laxative the stool will become hard and it will not pass easily in the large intestine which will cause constipation.

Answer b: If laxative irritates the intestinal wall then there will be bleeding from the colon of large intestine due to which there will be blood loss in the stool which can lead to anemia in the patient. The intestine might also loose the muscle tone due to which there will be difficulty in evacuation of stool.