Constipation in neurological diseases.

Many neurological and psychiatric disorders are associated with constipation, and this paper is a review of the current clinical knowledge regarding the pathogenesis and clinical findings. We will comment on the location of lesions, the possible pathogenesis of the symptoms, and the treatment of constipation, within a number of different neurological diseases. This field is rapidly expanding, as a better understanding of the physiology of bowel movements and defecation is achieved. The main focus is on idiopathic Parkinson’s disease and other parkinsonian syndromes where the mechanism of constipation seems to be a result of a genuine autonomic failure.