Today, the primacy of the bowel movement’s importance continues. Some have called for bowel habits, along with heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate, to be considered a vital sign of how the body is functioning.3296 Optimal frequency, as derived in see.nf/bms, is probably two or three bowel movements a day. However, the most important criterion for establishing a constipation diagnosis is not frequency3297 but, rather, consideration of the most prevalent symptom: straining.3298 Ideally, bowel movements should be effortless.
