Constipation is often treated as a simple plumbing problem, too little movement, too much delay. But emerging research suggests that, in some people, the culprit may not be sluggish muscles or faulty ...

Two mucus-degrading gut bacteria may be quietly drying out the colon, triggering chronic constipation that doesn’t respond to usual treatments.

Scientists at Nagoya University in Japan have found two gut bacteria working together that contribute to chronic constipation. The duo, Akkermansia muciniphila and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, ...

The researchers say that the microbes, Akkermansia muciniphila and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, break down the protective mucus layer of the colon. The study, published in the Gut Microbes, explains ...