Skip to main content

Causes of Acute Diarrhea

Definition of Acute Diarrhea
  • Diarrhea means having over three loose bowel movements a day.
  • Acute (Latin acutus = sharp, pointed) diarrhea, by definition, lasts less than 3 weeks (1).

Causes of Acute Diarrhea

A) Acute INFECTIOUS Diarrhea
  • Bacterial diarrhea usually occurs in food poisoningdue to infection with bacteria like E. coli or salmonella.
  • Parasitic diarrhea may be due to intestinal worms, or one-cell parasiteslike Entamoeba hystolytica, or giardia.
  • Viral diarrhea mainly affect small children in kinder-gartens due to stool-to-mouth infection from other children, or (in poor countries) due to infection by water, contaminated by rotavirus.

B) Acute NON-INFECTIOUS Diarrhea
  • Food allergies may affect children or adults. Main causes are wheat, eggs, cow milk, soy, fish, shellfish, peanuts, and tree-nuts, but can be virtually any food.
  • Fish poisoning. Both ciguatera poisoning by big tropical fish like barracuda or meckerel, and scombroid poisoning by non-properly stored fish are common.
  • Psychic stress may cause sudden diarrhea.
  • Antibiotic-associated diarrhea may appear few days or several weeks after start of treatment with antibiotics by mouth.
  • Medications like laxatives or magnesium antacids stimulate bowel motility.
  • Chemotherapy and irradiation damage cells in intestinal lining. 
  • Mushrooms (even non-poisonous), and poisonous plants like foxglove or oleander may cause severe diarrhea.
  • Pesticides, ingested or inhaled may cause severe diarrhea.
  • Ingestion of heavy metals like arsenic or mercury may cause severe diarrhea.
  • Runner's diarrhea often affects long-distance runners.
  • Diarrhea may appear in women before child-birth.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

mass converter gram kilogram lb oz

Mass Converter Mass, t = Mass, kg = Mass, g = Mass, mg = Mass, μg = Mass, lb = Mass, oz = Mass, US ton = With this converter, you can simultaneously convert several mass units to other mass units. Simple example: 1 kg = 1000 g Composite example: 1 kg and 10 g = 101000 mg Abbreviations for mass: t - tonne (metric ton); kg - kilogram; g - gram; mg - milligram; μg - microgram; lb, lbs - pound; oz - ounce.
Post a Comment
Read more

What Causes Mucus in Bowel Movement?

Mucus in Bowel Movement Mucus and slimy bowel movement can be caused by Chronic pancreatitis. Sometimes it can also be due to unprocessed fats in your stools. Other possible cause might be due to celiac disease. Actually, Mucus can be a symptom of anomalies in our abdominal walls. Its presence must be temporary and would be likely to turn into regular after few days. Mucus is produced by mucous glands that line the small and large intestine and is a translucent, jelly like substance that come out in stool. Mucus and slime smooth movement is signified by presence of mucus all over your stools. Healthy people may also have certain amount of mucus in normal stools. Usually mucus is not mixed with stool. In following conditions mucus may appear in normal semi-soft stools:
1 comment
Read more

Diagnosing Stomach Problems with Stool Color

Dark-colored stools may be seen in platelet function disorders, iron deficiency anemia, cirrhosis, colorectal cancer, disseminated intravascular coagulation, peptic ulcer, or stomach cancer. Liver disease may include a yellow tone to the skin and whites of eyes (jaundice) and brownish urine. Black or tarry stools (Melena) The passage of black, tarry and foul-smelling stools; can be an indication of digested blood in the stool. Other causes are, iron deficiency anemia, cirrhosis, colorectal cancer, disseminated intravascular coagulation, peptic ulcer, or stomach cancer. In advanced cirrhosis (liver disease), the abdomen becomes distended with fluid and ruptured blood vessels in the stomach and esophagus cause bleeding. The person may vomit blood or pass black stools. Very dark stools, for example, may indicate an ulcerative lesion in the higher digestive tract. Note: The ingestion of black licorice, lead, iron pills, Pepto-Bismol, or blueberries can all cause black stools or false ...
1 comment
Read more