Margaret Leland is 76 years old; she is retired and lives alone. Her only daughter lives two hours away. She has a past medical history of heart attack, smoking for 20 years, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. She complains of decreased appetite and disinterest in food. Ms. Leland is discharged from the hospital and returns for her follow-up appointment complaining of continued constipation. What is likely contributing to her change in bowel pattern? increased activity diuretic usage increased intake of food increased intake of water

Diuretics are used to treat hypertension and kidney and heart failure as they help in eliminating sodium. They are medicines that act on the functioning of the kidneys, interfering with the process of filtration and reabsorption of water and salts and increasing the amount of urine produced by the body. By enhancing urinary flow, diuretics favor the elimination of sodium, often responsible for cases of high blood pressure and heart and kidney failure.

Like other medicines, diuretics can cause bowel changes and constipation. If abused, they can make the intestines lazy and addictive. In more serious cases, the patient may develop colitis, or irritable bowel syndrome.

For this reason, we can state that the change in Margaret's intestinal pattern probably occurred due to the use of diuretics to treat hypertension.