Diarrhea: Encyclopedia II - Diarrhea - Causes

Diarrhea - Causes

This condition can be a symptom of injury, disease, foodborne illness or extreme excess of Vitamin C and is usually accompanied by abdominal pain, and often nausea and vomiting. There are other conditions which involve some but not all of the symptoms of diarrhea, and so the formal medical definition of diarrhea involves defecation of more than 200 grams per day (though formal weighing of stools to determine a diagnosis is never actually carried out).

It occurs when insufficient fluid is absorbed by the colon. As part of the digestion process, or due to fluid intake, food is mixed with large amounts of water. Thus, digested food is essentially liquid prior to reaching the colon. The colon absorbs water, leaving the remaining material as a semisolid stool. If the colon is damaged or inflamed, however, absorption is inhibited, and watery stools result.

Diarrhea is most commonly caused by myriad viral infections but is also often the result of bacterial toxins. In sanitary living conditions and with ample food and water available, an otherwise healthy patient typically recovers from the common viral infections in a few days and at most a week. However, for ill or malnourished individuals diarrhea can lead to severe dehydration and can become life-threatening without treatment.

It can also be a symptom of more serious diseases, such as dysentery, cholera, or botulism and can also be indicative of a chronic syndrome such as Crohn's disease. Though appendicitis patients don't generally have diarrhea, it is a common symptom of a ruptured appendix. It is also an effect of severe radiation sickness.

It can also be caused by excessive alcohol consumption, especially in someone who doesn't eat enough food.

Symptomatic treatment for diarrhea involves the patient consuming adequate amounts of water to replace that lost, preferably mixed with electrolytes to provide essential salts and some amount of nutrients. For many people, further treatment and formal medical advice is unnecessary. The following types of diarrhea generally indicate medical supervision is desirable:

• Diarrhea in infants.
• Moderate or severe diarrhea in young children.
• Diarrhea associated with blood.
• Diarrhea that continues for more than 2 weeks.
• Diarrhea that is associated with more general illness such as non-cramping abdominal pain, fever, weight loss, etc.
• Diarrhea in travelers (more likely to have exotic infections such as parasites)
• Diarrhea in food handlers (potential to infect others)
• Diarrhea in institutions (Hospitals, child care, mental health institutes, geriatric and convalescent homes etc).

Since most people will ignore very minor diarrhea, a patient who actually presents to a doctor is likely to have diarrhea that is more severe than usual.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Causes", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki