Constipation is a common and serious problem for terminal cancer patients, often resulting in deterioration of the overall condition of the patients and causing great anxiety in their family members. Terminal cancer patients, according to the principle of palliative care and the symptoms of pain, are usually given morphine-like analgesics orally or by injection to ease the pain, and are therefore very likely to suffer from constipation, poor appetite, bloating and other relevant symptoms. The Chinese herbal composition of rhubarb and licorice extracts presented in this study can notably improve the symptoms of constipation, poor appetite, and bloating, and these results are statistically significant.
