Diarrhea is a common illness associated with unusual bowel movements. It is described as the frequent passing of loose and liquid stool that occurs more than the usual average bowel movement a person has per day. The frequent trips to the toilet will, if not properly treated, lead to dehydration and other serious diseases. Usually, its symptoms can be felt in less than a week or it may be prolonged lasting more than a month depending on what caused the disease. Diarrhea can be mild to acute; and although serious stages can be rare, it is important to see a doctor and attend to its immediate treatment.
What causes diarrhea?
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Normally, diarrhea occurs when the food and liquids you ingest move too quickly through the colon and your digestive tract didn’t get enough time to absorb the liquid from the food that you eat to firm up the waste. This process leads to a semisolid or watery bowel movement.
People get diarrhea for several reasons. The most common causes include the following.
1. Virus. Diarrhea caused by a virus can be serious, especially on children. In most cases, the frequent episodes of diarrhea are due to viral infections that could last 5 days to 4 weeks. This prolonged condition is usually due to inflammation and gastrointestinal disease that is caused by Norwalk virus and Cytomegalovirus.
2. Medications. Antibiotics are the common types of medications that causes diarrhea. It is the function of antibiotics to kill any bacteria in your body, whether it may be good or bad bacteria. Once the natural balance of bacteria is disturbed, it could lead to Clostridium difficile which can cause diarrhea.
3. Intestinal bacteria and parasites.Diarrhea caused by bacteria and parasites usually occurs when you are travelling or have taken contaminated food or water. Bacteria such as salmonella and E.coli, and parasites such as Giardia lamblia and cryptosporidium are leading culprits that causes diarrhea.
4. Inability to digest food properly. People who have trouble digesting milk, dairy products, artificial sweeteners, honey, sugar, as well as any other type of fat and carbohydrates can increase the risk of diarrhea.
Signs and symptoms
If you’re having diarrhea, you may succumb to a slight fever and would later feel very weak, lightheaded, and nauseous. The rapid loss of fluids, sugar, and minerals in your body will result in bloating and dehydration. Urine is little and stool will be dark and sometimes bloody. Eventually, you will suffer from light to extreme rectal and abdominal pain.
For children, if your child doesn’t wet his diaper in 3 or more hours and there are no tears in his cries, he might be suffering from diarrhea. Check his stool if it’s black and bloody as well as the abdomen if it’s sunken. He will also have a fever of more than 39 C.
Different treatments for diarrhea
If the diarrhea is not serious, your immune system itself heals the illness within a few days without any treatment especially if you are living a healthy lifestyle complete with exercise, adequate rest, and healthy diet. Home remedies can be your first aid, and these are as follows.
1. Consume helpful bacteria to bring back the balance of bacteria in your digestive tract.
2. Drink broth, soup, and juice three times a day.
3. Drink water with salt to replace your lost fluids.
If these home remedies are not successful, you may see a doctor to know other treatments. Usually, doctors will likely advise you to take the following medications.
1. If your diarrhea is caused by parasites and bacteria, antibiotics are great treatments to cure diarrhea. However, if it was caused by a certain type of antibiotic, if it best that you only take liquids that could replenish the fluids and electrolytes that were lost during diarrhea.
2. If you are suffering from an acute form of diarrhea, it is best that you see a gastroenterologist who can recommend a specific medication for you.
Although diarrhea can be treated and is not actually a major illness, the pain during this health condition can be extremely irritating. So to prevent yourself and your family from suffering from diarrhea, always keep your food and your environment clean and sanitized.
