Effects of Senna

When you hear the name senna, do you think that this thing can cause diarrhea or has an antidiarrheal effect? ​​In fact, senna is a laxative with a relatively strong medicinal property. It mainly stimulates intestinal peristalsis through the nerves. It is a strong medicine, so it is recommended to use it as little as possible. Generally speaking, this plant is only used in prescriptions and should not be bought and decocted by yourself, as this would be dangerous.

Some women often have the idea of ​​losing weight in their lives. Some women even eat things that have laxative effects to make themselves thinner. This method is absolutely not advisable. Especially senna leaves, its role cannot be ignored.

1. The hemostatic effect is effective for gastric and duodenal bleeding. Use the aqueous extract of this product to spray on the bleeding area of ​​the stomach under a gastroscope, and direct observation will show an immediate hemostatic effect. Intraperitoneal injection of 200 mg/kg senna glycosides can significantly shorten the bleeding time of mice. Oral administration of senna leaves can increase the platelet count and fibrinogen content, and shorten the coagulation time, thromboplastin time, plasma recalcification time, and clot contraction time. In addition, the protective effect of this product on gastric mucosal damage in rats induced by hydrochloric acid and indomethacin is also beneficial for the prevention and treatment of gastric and duodenal bleeding.

2. Antibacterial effect: Senna leaf extract has inhibitory effects on many bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, Proteus, Shigella dysenteriae, Group A Streptococcus, Candida albicans and certain pathogenic skin fungi.

3. Other effects: For rats with experimental intestinal infarction, intraperitoneal injection of 50 mg/kg sennosides can restore the reduced intestinal mucosal histamine content to normal levels. In addition, it has been reported that this product has a curare-like effect, which can block the transmission of impulses at the neuromuscular junction and prevent the binding of acetylcholine to M receptors, thereby relaxing the muscles.

4. It has a significant laxative effect on mice, rats, rabbits and other animals as well as humans. Mice and rabbits develop diarrhea 2-4 hours after taking the drug, and humans develop diarrhea about 6 hours after oral administration. The laxative active ingredients of this product are mainly sennoside A and B, especially sennoside A. Although sennoside C has a similar laxative effect to A, its content is very small. Sennoside A 20 mg/kg can cause diarrhea in mice. However, if 20% C is mixed into A, the effect of sennoside A can be enhanced by 1.6 times. Sennoside can be partially absorbed in the small intestine and then enter the large intestine through the blood or bile, and mainly enters the large intestine directly from the small intestine. Under the action of intestinal bacteria, it undergoes hydrolysis and reduction to become rhein anthrone or rhein anthrone-8-glucoside. Since the laxative effect of direct injection of rhein anthrone is not affected and the production of rhein anthrone in the intestine is significantly reduced, it is believed that rhein anthrone is the real component of sennoside that causes laxative effects. On the other hand, sennosides can block the transport of glucose and Na across the intestinal wall in the everted small intestine and colon, indicating that inhibiting the intestinal absorption of glucose, sodium and water, increasing the volume of intestinal cavity contents and then stimulating the intestinal wall to reflexively enhance the peristalsis of the small intestine and colon may also be one of its laxative mechanisms, and the small intestine is also the site of action of its laxative components.

The above is an introduction to some of the effects of senna leaves. I hope that after reading it, you will understand the effects of this plant on humans. If you feel that you may be constipated and want to take some senna leaves to relieve constipation, this is not advisable because improper consumption of senna leaves will lead to a series of side effects. If you feel unwell, you should go to a regular hospital for examination in time.