Diarrhea Treatment, Causes, Types, Symptoms, Medication And Facts

Diarrhea is an expression of an underlying disease process that must therefore be identified and treated. The anti-diarrheal can therefore be only a palliative measure until the agency itself or the doctor could remedy the root causes. It is often contraindicated immediately take something if it is infection, the intestine does well to get rid of germs.

Diarrhea disturbs the balance primarily water and electrolyte (water and salts) and in people with little body fat reserves in short supply energy also varies. As first aid is used, prior to administration of anti-diarrheal, the reintegration of liquids, salts and sugars: carbonated cola drinks (liquid, sugar and slightly astringent) and pretzels (sodium, a little ‘potassium) are effective and enjoy children. May be more effective still broths (animal or vegetable), and herbal tea (with honey as an alternative). There are also oral rehydration solutions containing electrolytes and glucose. In cases where the person shows signs of dehydration, you can resort to the use of electrolyte solutions intravenously.

Where there are nutritional deficits is well corrected by administering the factors which the body is deficient.

In case of diarrhea, acute bacterial infection by antibiotic therapy is controversial because they tend to be self-limited and diarrhea itself helps to reduce the microbial gut. Hopefully we can make use of probiotics. In some cases, however, the use of antibiotics can be taken in case of diarrhea persisting We consider that it was possible to identify the organism responsible. The use of antibiotics is necessary in immunocompromised individuals with cancer, people with orthopedic and vascular implants.

The use of anti-diarrheal (antimuscarinic and others) must be considered with great caution, as they do not act at the level of the disease process causal. In the case of infectious diarrhea, then, may lengthen the duration of the disease and cause complications that can also be set such as intestinal perforation, megacolon. May occasionally be used in cases of diverticular disease or irritable bowel syndrome. Are still products whose use is not recommended in children and the elderly.

It is to be considered, moreover, that the disease process stimulates the invasion of the intestinal lamina by white cells (macrophages, lymphocytes, etc. …), which produce factors capable of stimulating the activity of secretory crypts (histamine, nitric oxide, adenosine, serotonin, eicosanoids, and others).

The result of this is the development of a tissue with reduced absorptive and secretory capacity increased, leading to the development of diarrhea. If the inflammatory damage continues, may also form ulcers followed by formation of an exudate coming from the capillaries, containing protein and blood.

From the clinical point of view you can have fever, abdominal pain, loose stools mixed with mucus, blood and pus. Can develop phenomena of deficiency or malabsorption of nutrients.

Other conditions that can produce this type of diarrhea are, curiously, even those that lead to a bowel obstruction (fecal impaction, tumors), as it results in a stenotic hyperflow fluid around the area.

Even conditions that reduce bowel motility may lead to the onset of diarrhea as there is the possibility of increased presence of bacteria which can Deinflect bile acids, blocking the function of fat absorption. The result of this is the onset of diarrhea and steatorrhea.

It should be noted that various neurological alterations of the mechanisms of intestinal motility with the possibility of an outbreak of diarrhea.

Be careful of what you eat. This is the watchword to prevent diarrhoea, particularly infectious. In summer, therefore, care creams are not well preserved or eggs. For the rest it is very difficult to prevent diarrhoea Much easier is the cure, which, in addition to a constant supply of fluids (especially citrus juices), but a few simple dietary rules. Stop milk and green rice and boiled potatoes, with astringent. And also to products available in pharmacies (such as lactic acid bacteria) capable of restoring the normal intestinal flora and accelerate healing.

Prevention
Bacteria, viruses and parasites that cause diarrhoea, typically, come from the feces of infected subjects, then, the practice of some simple hygiene measures to avoid contact of bodies, food, hands or anything that can enable them to reach the mouth, is undoubtedly an important form of prevention. Here are some useful tips:
* Personal hygiene: it is good to wash your hands frequently, especially after the completion of biological functions, but also in the kitchen when you touch food, especially fish or raw meat and eggs, or when there are frequent contacts with other people (for as when you shake hands frequently), or after contact with animals.
* Environmental hygiene: it is good to keep properly clean the premises as kitchens and bathrooms.
* Food Hygiene (in particular to prevent traveller’s diarrhoea): Avoid raw or undercooked foods and beverages not packaged.
* In the case of food intolerance, follow a diet that provides for the exclusion of the substance to which you are intolerant.
* When used with the particular conditions of stress, the best prevention is, of course, try to avoid or at least to contain the emotional involvement.

When you are ready to travel to exotic destinations, they often take little account of the health risks that may lead to stay, partly because unfortunately not always travel agencies emphasize this aspect of the holiday. One of the most common medical problems they face those who go on the road to ‘foreign, mainly in tropical and sub-tropical, it is the traveller’s diarrhoea, called by the press “Montezuma’s revenge” or “the curse of Tutankhamen.”

Traveller’s diarrhoea (traveller’s diarrhoea, also abbreviated “TD”) affects 20-50% of those who go to countries with lower sanitation standards than the area of origin. One of the most significant factors is the region of the world that is half the journey. The areas of the world that pose a high risk are South America, sub-Saharan West Africa and eastern Europe, South Asia. There is also a second band in which the risk of traveller’s diarrhoea is average and includes some Caribbean islands. Northern Mediterranean countries, those in the Middle East and South Africa. Finally there is the low risk area which includes the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

The risk of contracting traveller’s diarrhoea also varies greatly according to the foods consumed. The foods most at risk are those with high water content and that are served or maintained for some time at room temperature, especially undercooked or raw meat, seafood, fruits and raw vegetables. Another important factor seems to be the place where food is prepared: the risk increases ranging from private home, in restaurants, retailers of road. Who does adventure trips or comes into contact with the local population, presents a higher risk than those who stay in hotels best.

The major cause of traveller’s diarrhoea is represented by infectious agents, which are usually bacteria (Escherichia coli-ETEC, Vibrio cholera, Salmonellae) and less parasites (Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica) and viruses (Rotavirus, Calicivirus, Enterovirus) and who as a vehicle of transmission contaminated food and water.

In the world there are several alternative therapies, often based on drug profits to fight diarrhoea. The most popular are the following:

Cholestyramine
Cholestyramine is an anion exchange resin, hydrochloric acid, which binds bile acids in the intestine to form an insoluble complex excreted via faeces. It is used as a drug antiipercholesterolemic, because avoiding enterohepatic re absorption of bile acids allows the neo-synthesis of the same by the hepatocytes. It has net decrease of blood cholesterol (precursor of bile acids), LDL and lipoproteins and, as a secondary effect, constipation. Also has effects on the removal of bile duct obstruction.

Questran
It’s a pharmacotherapeutic one. It is indicated in patients with primary hypercholesterolemia, with ipercoles terolemia associated with hypertriglyceridemia when the former is the greatest therapeutic problem in all cases that do not meet the only dietary treatment, in patients with partial obstruction and bile: for the relief of itching associated with clogging. It can be useful also to decrease cholesterol levels in patients with hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia. Contraindications: no good for patients with complete obstruction of the respiratory, unable to clarify certain activities’ if the bile is not secreted intestine. It is also contraindicated in those subjects demonstrating not, or have shown above, hypersensitivity to someone from its components.

Sucralfate
Sucralfate is a viscous substance, insoluble in water, capable of neutralizing the action of pepsin. Pepsin is an enzyme hydrolysis of proteins deputy, ulcerated area lacks a protective layer of gastric mucus and pepsin can thus also the wall of the stomach. Sucralfate is taken by mouth, now is distributed in the stomach by coating the walls and fully adheres firmly (for 6 hours) at the ulcer crater. To avoid interactions, medicines should be taken 2 hours before sucralfate; only significant side effect constipation, the presence of aluminium salts in the chemical structure of the drug.

Tea
The most natural remedy in the world is tea (generic, with no taste), with plenty of lemon juice, used to string! However, the natural flotation, if you have diarrhoea, you need to download everything and takes off alone. The only thing that I will strongly recommend, you take the milk enzymes, which help regulate the intestinal flora in some cases.

The greater burnet
The greater burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis) is a grass field that has flowers of a delicate lilac. Few people know that this plant is a good remedy for diarrhoea, menopause, bleeding, hemorrhoids, wounds and burns. What to do? Boil 30 grams of the aerial parts of Pimpinella in a quart of ‘water for 10 minutes and drink throughout the draft during the day in case you diarrhoea, 3 cups per day for the menopause.

There are many and various reasons for which a person is suffering from diarrhoea in all its features. It is often due to malnutrition, but sometimes it is also because of a simple virus that enters our gut and create imbalances. Most of the time you have to wonder if, perhaps with a little more than foresight, all this will also be able to avoid.

Infectious causes: bacteria, viruses and parasites in summer are more common forms of bacteria, in winter the virus. Among the various types of infectious diarrhoea or infectious cough include: cholera, tuberculosis, salmonellosis, typhoid. One particular type is the so-called “traveller’s diarrhoea” caused by an organism called Campylobacter jejuni, which can contaminate water and food, especially in low hygienical standards. The toxins produced by this bacterium are destroyed by adequate cooking.

Psychological problems: stress, irritability
Motor dysfunction: irritable bowel.
Causes inflammation: Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis
Medicines: laxatives, antibiotics, NSAIDs, etc..
Food: food intolerances, allergies
Malabsorption: congenital (cystic fibrosis) or acquired (pancreatic insufficiency)
Anatomical lesions: mainly post-surgery (ileal resection, intestinal bypass)
Causes Endocrine: hyperthyroidism, diabetes, hypoparathyroidism, carcinoid, Zollinger-Ellison
Vascular causes: acute mesenteric
Malignancies: lymphoma and intestinal cancer
Immunological causes: gastroenteritis esosinofila deficiency of immunoglobulin

Complications

Chronic diarrhoea can cause death by dehydration of the individual and / or metabolic acidosis. In the presence of diarrhoea would increase the body’s water loss due to incomplete absorption of water, excessive liquid booster by some undigested substances and / or related with hyper secretion and intestinal inflammation. Dehydration are also connected to the electrolyte disturbances that exacerbate the situation further to cause hypo tension, metabolic acidosis, renal calculi, oliguria, lethargy and tachycardia with pulse small and frequent.

Diarrhoea can become dangerous for the phenomena of dehydration associated with it, especially in the elderly, children and debilitated subjects.

Care and treatment of diarrhoea

An examination of the possible complications of diarrhoea, often undervalued, makes us understand the importance of proper therapy. Actually, since the origin of the disturbance there may be very different causes, treatment of diarrhoea should be differentiated according to the pathological process in place. In any case it is important to act quickly to combat dehydration, as we have seen, is one of the most feared and common symptoms of diarrhoea In the presence of this disorder should therefore be of fluids, minerals and sugars lost through food or intravenous electrolyte solutions (in relation to the degree of dehydration).

Antibiotics are generally not used since the diarrhoea itself contributes to the elimination of pathogenic micro-organisms that have affected the intestine. However, in case of severe infections in which it clearly identified the causative agent (typhoid, Campylobacter, Yersinia, Clostridium difficile) the use of antibiotics is strongly recommended. The anti-diarrhoeal drugs do not cure the disease upstream, but attenuate the symptoms (diarrhoea).

Diet and Medication
The care and treatment of less severe forms of diarrhoea can be done at home: drink lost of fluids to keep the body hydrated; avoid rich foods such as fruit and vegetable waste; avoid iced drinks, strong tea, foods high in fat and therefore difficult to digest; limit the intake of fructose and sorbitol in the diet (fruit juice); avoid alcohol, coffee and any substances that can aggravate allergies (dairy products, excess gluten, soy, etc..). Effectiveness of lactic acid bacteria is questioned by many, which is why it is recommended to discuss with your doctor beforehand.

Diarrhea is a condition whose main symptoms of defecation is the issuance of a liquid or semi-liquid stool consistency, volume and frequency of greater than normal (may vary from 3 to 6 times a day). May occur as isolated symptoms, or accompanied by: abdominal, flatulence, burning anus, fever or vomiting; in some cases, stool can appear traces of blood.

Is usually a result of inflammation of the large intestine, or that part of the intestine that is responsible for reabsorbing water from the mixture of digested food. Very often, the Diarrhea is an attempt at defending the body against external agents. The consequence of alteration is a decreased intestinal re absorption of water, or excessive secretion of fluids: in any case, the result is that the feces contain excessive amounts of fluid that the body is unable to hold back. Dehydration is very dangerous in children and the elderly, two groups with high risk. In children in particular, the consequences can become so serious as to require hospitalization even if it lasts a few days.

Acute and chronic Diarrhea
Is defined as acute as that occurs suddenly and resolves within a short time (usually the phenomenon may last from 12 hours until a few days): This type of Diarrhea is a fairly common disorder and usually not a problem of serious magnitude especially when not accompanied by other symptoms. Typically, the Diarrhea is resolved without the use of drugs, but can be very useful taking probiotics to restore normal intestinal balance.

Is defined as chronic when it persists for days over two weeks: if the noise is repeated at intervals of time, is defined by recurring. Chronic and recurrent Diarrhea is often a sign of the presence of other diseases, or the result of specific therapies, so in these cases it is always advisable to use the doctor’s opinion. The chronic Diarrhea can be caused by a chronic illness. The biggest danger is that as dehydration, which means that the body is deprived of many fluids, and this lack does not allow him to function more successfully. Patients of all ages may experience Diarrhea and on average adults have a bout of Diarrhea about four times a year.

Acute attacks are usually caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites or infection, while chronic conditions are usually related to functional disorders like irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease. Some of the most common causes of Diarrhea are:

Bacterial infections: Several types of bacteria ingested through contaminated food or water can cause Diarrhea The most common culprits include Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella and colibacillosis.
Viral infections: Many viruses cause Diarrhea, including rota virus, Norwalk virus, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex viral hepatitis.

Food intolerances: Some people are not able to digest food, as some artificial sweeteners and lactose, a sugar found in milk.

Parasites: Parasites can enter the body through food or water and settle in the digestive system. The parasites that cause Diarrhea include: giardiasis lambliasi, entameba istolitica and Cryptosporidium.

Reaction to drugs: antibiotics, drugs for blood pressure, chemotherapy and antacids containing magnesium can cause Diarrhea

Bowel disease: Inflammatory bowel disease, colitis, Crohn’s disease and celiac disease often lead to Diarrhea
Functional bowel disorders. Diarrhea may be a symptom of irritable bowel syndrome.

Some people develop Diarrhea after stomach surgery or removal of the gallbladder. The reason may be a change in the way that moves food through the digestive system after stomach surgery or an increase of bile in the colon after gallbladder surgery.