Constipation Nation bookcover

Constipation Nation

What to Know When You Can't Go
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Description

A definitive guide to the science and history of constipation across the nation. Publishers Weekly says, "It's everything readers always wanted to know about constipation but were too afraid to ask."

Most Americans have had constipation symptoms at some point in their lives. Statistics show up to 30% of Americans are affected with chronic constipation. This number reaches 60% as we age. At any given time up to 100 million people in the United States experience constipation. During the pandemic, constipation and its related anorectal issues worsened because everyone was sitting at home.

Constipation has affected humans throughout history. Some called it "civilization's curse." Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (yes, of Kellogg's cereal fame) promoted cold cereal as a constipation cure. Today, we have more probiotics and diets than you can shake your tushy at, and social media has popularized the Blue Poop Challenge to diagnose gut health. But what does it all mean?

After seeing thousands of patients in her practice as a colorectal surgeon, Dr. Fong realized that she was repeating the same information, sometimes twenty times a day. Yet, this information was not common knowledge. What was found on the Internet was confusing and conflicting, leaving people who Googled their symptoms with more questions than answers. As an academic clinician who has written peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Fong sought information beyond even what the medical textbooks taught her.

Constipation Nation helps readers who would rather research information themselves before seeing a healthcare professional to troubleshoot their poop chute. Drawing from 200 evidence-based sources as well as historical texts, Dr. Fong addresses all aspects of constipation, combining medicine, physiology, anatomy, microbiology, nutrition, history, and social sciences to get to the bottom of it all to explain why we doo... and why we don't.

Product Details

PublisherRowman & Littlefield Publishers
Publish DateNovember 05, 2024
Pages254
LanguageEnglish
TypeBook iconHardback
EAN/UPC9781538186190
Dimensions8.9 X 5.7 X 0.9 inches | 1.1 pounds

About the Author

Carmen Fong, MD, FACS, is a Chinese American writer and colorectal surgeon. She's a New York City transplant who now lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her wife, daughter, and two cats. Fong is co-director of the Hemorrhoid Centers of America and specializes in office-based proctology, and most recently was an assistant professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She sees patients with constipation every single day. During her training, Fong won multiple awards and presented at national meetings. She's a member of the Society of Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, where she sits on the Ethics and Health Advocacy Committees, and she's a member of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, where she's active on the Young Surgeons Committee. She has been an ambassador for Fight Colorectal Cancer!, a national advocacy group.

Reviews

Constipation Nation is a deftly crafted and complete course of instructive information on the subject of the digestive system and gastroenterology that will be especially appreciated by anyone who has problems with chronic constipation. Exceptionally 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, Constipation Nation is a unique and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, medical professional, community, and college/university library Health/Medicine collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

-- "Midwest Book Review"

Colorectal surgeon Fong debuts with an informative guide to maintaining healthy bowel movements. She explains that the colon primarily serves to reabsorb water from food after it's been digested, and that constipation occurs when the colon either absorbs too much water or has trouble contracting. To keep things moving, she recommends consuming "at least sixty-four ounces of water" and 25-35 grams of fiber per day, noting that fiber helps with motility by bulking up stool while producing short-chain fatty acids that provide the colon with energy. She encourages readers to get their daily fiber through foods rather than supplements and includes recipes for roast broccoli, pumpkin pasta, and egg drop soup with spinach and chicken meatballs. Stressing moderation, Fong suggests that while "coffee stimulates enzymes in the saliva and stomach that help with digestion," too much can cause dehydration, and that while exercise generally aids motility, overly strenuous workouts can trigger a fight-or-flight response that "diverts blood flow from the gut to... the heart and the brain." Fong's conversational tone keeps things light without slipping into the scatological. It's everything readers always wanted to know about constipation but were too afraid to ask.

-- "Publishers Weekly"

Dr. Carmen Fong makes talking about poop fun! This easy-to-read, helpful book is packed with medically backed information that helps patients poop better, start conversations with their doctors, and break the stigmas that keep so many silent.

--Danielle Ripley-Burgess, vice president of Disease Awareness, Fight Colorectal Cancer, and author of Blush: How I Barely Survived 17

Dr. Fong has written an extraordinarily comprehensive book on a pervasively common concern--that of constipation. Her encyclopedic approach to this subject is truly remarkable. As a colon and rectal surgeon, myself, I learned considerably more about bowel evacuatory dysfunction than I had heretofore believed I understood. While written for a lay audience, it is at once a scientific, yet personal approach and is accompanied by an extensive bibliography. The author is to be congratulated on providing a worthy medical text for all individuals troubled by this condition.

--Marvin L. Corman, professor of Surgery, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, M.D.

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