Diarrhea: Symptoms,Causes and Treatment

Diarrhea

The stomach problems are very common now days and the causes differ biologically from area to area, one of the most common problems is Diarrhea whose concurrency rate in any state is quite same.

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First of all lets us all discuss, what is Diarrhea and according to medical terms it is the increase in the frequency of Bowl movements or we can say increase of watery form of stools.

There are many misconceptions of people for this disease and a little stomach problem is called Diarrhea according to most of people but this is not actually the case. The inability of to control the bow movement or rectal urgency can’t be straightly termed as diarrhea. So the distinction of Diarrhea from other bad stomach conditions is necessary otherwise people may go directly to the medicines used while diarrhea even if the problem is not so severe.

What is Diarrhea?

Here lets us see what are the things or conditions which are termed as diarrhea, the main among them is the frequency of bowl movements that is quite more than the normal, more than three bowl movements in day are considered to be the symptoms of diarrhea, the consistency of stool is also sometimes called diarrhea but there are many cases also in which this problem not comes up to be diarrhea.This disease is thus the increase in number of bowl movement but the person should not to not go for the self medication because it can’t be surely said that the problem is Diarrhea or some other stomach problem.

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Causes:

• One of the major causes of Diarrhea are the bacterial infections, there are several types of bacteria are contained in the contaminated food or water that can cause Diarrhea. Some of the most common one which can create this problem are Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, and Escherichia coli (E. coli).

• Just like bacteria there are many viruses that can cause Diarrhea and the viral infections of stomach and intestine are the major cause of diarrhea worldwide. Some common of these viruses include rotavirus, Norwalk virus, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus, and viral hepatitis.

• There are many food contents that are indigestible for some people like the artificial sweeteners and lactose which is also a sugar found in milk.

• There are many parasites that enter the body through food and water and thus get settled in the digestive system and some of the main culprits among them are Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica, and Cryptosporidium.

• There are also some intestinal diseases that can lead to diarrhea and the main among them include colitis, Crohn’s disease, and celiac disease.

• From all the causes stated above one thing will be clear to you that behind any bacteria, virus or parasite there is food and water that contains them so the chief cause is the contaminated food that is available in the market and most of us are habitual of eating that.

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Symptoms

• One of the most common symptoms is dehydration that occurs mostly in the adult patients. Usually this situation happens when the intake of food is limited by lethargy and is associated with nausea and vomiting.

• It is also very common in the young children especially infants who develop viral gastroenteritis or some other bacterial problem.

• The patient suffering from this may feel thirst and dry mouth.

• The doctor should be consulted if high fever is associated with the loose stool problems.

• If the stomach problem persists for more than 48 hours than the doctor should be consulted.

• Another symptom of this disease is shown if the stool comes with blood or pus and it mostly occurs in the children.

• The dry skin and fatigue is also associated with this disease and it mostly occurs in the adults.

• Dark colored urine is also associated with this disease and this symptom can be shown with both adults and children.

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Treatment

The treatment of Diarrhea is not very difficult and it can be easily carried at home but the continuous treatment will be helpful and if the problem persists for more than a day or two then the doctor should be consulted.

• Oral Rehydration solution (ORS) is the specialized liquids that contain carbohydrates and electrolytes that are very helpful for treating such problems. The WHO has developed a WHO-ORS that contains glucose and electrolytes and the glucose has the special property to penetrate into the intestine and control the problem.

• In United States there are some other conventional products available that are like WHO-ORS and they can bring rehydration by controlling the conditions of dehydration.

• Some of the infants that are not suffering from severe conditions are treated with intravenous fluids that can control the dehydration problem because the children gets dehydrated faster than that of adults and they are given treatment at the early situation.

• During the mild cases the fruit juices and soft drinks that contain sugar are used. The sports drinks like Gatorade are strongly suggested by the doctors.

• The intake of water should be increased during such situations to avoid dehydration.

This disease is thus a very common one that can affect people along the globe and it can cause sudden lost of water and important nutrients from the body which can lead to dehydration and the major causes for this disease are the viruses and bacteria that are present in the food now days available in the markets. The main symptoms include thirst, dryness and fatigue along with constant watery stool. The treatment of this disease is not very difficult and can be easily carried at home by taking glucose and drinking maximum amount of water and if the problem persists then doctor should be consulted.

This was all about Diarrhea but the main thing is its prevention that is in our hands and we can control this problem by avoiding food from market places and prefer homemade and fresh food.