Diarrhea is a medical condition which is characterized by rather frequent stools which are watery and loose. It is one of the most common medical conditions as it affects all people numerous times during their lives. The signs and symptoms of diarrhea sometimes tend to last over the course of a few days and in the most severe cases they may even last for several weeks. Such severe cases of diarrhea may indicate some other underlying medical condition such as irritable bowel syndrome of inflammatory bowel syndrome. The biggest problem with diarrhea is that it may be held responsible for the loss of significant amounts of salts and water. In most cases, diarrhea does not call for any specific type of treatment, but severe and/or prolonged cases of diarrhea may be associated with dehydration and passing blood in the stool, which can be very dangerous.
Causes of Diarrhea
Diarrhea occurs when the fluids and foods pass through the colon too quickly or in large amounts so the liquids do not get absorbed properly. The result of that is a rather watery movement of the bowels. Diarrhea may be triggered by various digestive disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, microscopic colitis, celiac disease, ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Different types of artificial sweeteners and fructose may also sometimes be held responsible for the onset of diarrhea. Lactose intolerance is another common cause of diarrhea and it affects all people who experience difficulties when it comes to digesting lactose. Many different types of medicaments may cause diarrhea, and the most common ones among them are antibiotics. Various sorts of bacteria and parasites such as Escherichia coli, shigella, salmonella, campylobacter, cryptosporidium and giardia lamblia are also known for causing diarrhea in numerous cases. The most common causes of diarrhea are certain types of viruses such as rotavirus, viral hepatitis, cytomegalovirus and Norwalk virus.
Home Remedies
In most cases, diarrhea usually resolves all by itself over the course of only a few days, but still there are certain home remedies which may make things a lot easier for the sufferer. There are numerous over the counter medications which can be really helpful and those include Bismuth subsalicylate and loperamide. Avoiding highly seasoned food, high fiber foods, fatty foods and dairy products is strongly advised. It is a good idea to ingest plenty of low fiber and semisolid foods such as chicken, rice, eggs, toast and soda crackers. It is also very important to ingest as much liquids as possible, excluding alcoholic and caffeinated beverages.
Your thoughts on this
Loading...