Diarrhea or Diarrhoea is a disorder that occurs when there is a frequent need to have a bowel movement. The stool occurs to be loose and watery. It might occur as a result of a viral or bacterial infection or sometimes due to food poisoning. Diarrhea can be acute or chronic. Acute diarrhea is fairly common and disappears in a day or two without any treatment. Chronic diarrhea refers to a condition that lasts for at least four weeks. In such cases, you need to see a doctor.<\/p>\n
The primary symptom of diarrhea is loose, watery bowel motion. Depending on the cause, there are multiple signs of diarrhea. You may experience only one of the following or a combination of them:
\n\u2022 Nausea and Vomiting
\n\u2022 Chronic and Recurring Abdominal Pain
\n\u2022 Cramps or Upset Stomach
\n\u2022 Bloating
\n\u2022 Dehydration
\n\u2022 Fever
\n\u2022 Bloody Stools
\n\u2022 Frequent Urge to Evacuate the Bowel
\n\u2022 A Large volume of stools
\n\u2022 Loss of Appetite
\n\u2022 Occasional Muscle Pain or Headache
\nDiarrhea can cause dehydration especially in the case of children and aged class. The symptoms of dehydration in adults include:
\n\u2022 Thirst
\n\u2022 Lack of Energy
\n\u2022 Less Urine Passage
\n\u2022 Dizziness or Light-Headedness
\nSymptoms of mild to moderate dehydration in children may include:
\n\u2022 Dry Mouth
\n\u2022 Less Urine Passage
\n\u2022 Irritation
\n\u2022 Listlessness
\n\u2022 Fewer Tears While Crying
\n\u2022 Sunken Eyes. cheeks or belly or a sunken fontanelle
\nThe young children and elderly people are at risk of becoming rapidly dehydrated. Immediate medical attention should be sought in such cases.<\/p>\n
Diarrhea can be acute or chronic. Acute diarrhea is usually caused by an infection in the gastrointestinal tract caused due to bacterial, viral or parasitic infection of the bowels. Diarrhea caused by any of these infections is called gastroenteritis<\/b>.<\/p>\n
Viral gastroenteritis, popularly known as stomach flu, is a chronic intestinal infection that occurs through contact with an infected person or by ingesting contaminated food or water. Gastroenteritis can be deadly for infants, old people and people with the weak immune system.<\/p>\n
Several viruses can lead to gastroenteritis, including:
\n\u2022 Noroviruses: The most common cause of foodborne illness. In majority of the cases, this virus is picked up from contaminated food or water and is also contagious. This virus can affect a person of any age group and can sweep through families and societies.
\n\u2022 Rotavirus: This type of virus is most commonly observed in infants and children. The infection usually causes when children put their finger or other virus prone objects in their mouth. Developed countries like the US provide a vaccine against viral gastroenteritis.
\nThe major concern of viral gastroenteritis is dehydration leading to a severe loss of water, salts, and minerals in the body. Infants, children, aged people may be severely affected because of the loss of fluids.<\/p>\n
Mostly the problem of diarrhea cures in a day or two without the need for any treatment. Self-care and home remedies suffice to relieve the symptoms. They are:
\n\u2022 Avoid caffeine, dairy products, greasy, high fiber and sugary foods
\n\u2022 To provide relief from abdominal cramps, place a hot water bottle or a wheat pack on stomach
\n\u2022 Apply zinc or castor oil ointment to affected areas in case of rashes from diarrhea
\n\u2022 Avoid taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen or diclofenac for pain relief as these medications can be a cause for diarrhea
\n\u2022 To avoid dehydration, drink plenty of liquids in the form of broths, soups, diluted non-caffeinated sports drinks, rehydration formulations<\/p>\n
However, if diarrhea caused is not due to bacterial or viral infection, there are likely chances that diarrhea is due to the improper functioning of the gastrointestinal or the digestive tract. In most cases, one can treat stomach flu by following a strict diet and intake of healthy fluids and electrolytes.
\nYou can switch to medication if you find your infection incurable. Dr.Piyush Ranjan<\/b>, one of the best gastroenterologists and liver specialists in Delhi is an expert in this field. After taking a detailed session with the patient the expert and his team recommends the needful treatment. In some cases, probiotics(live microbes) normally present in the digestive tract are suggested as treatment. Studies suggest that some probiotics may help shorten the case of diarrhea. Talking about medicines, there are two types of medicines available to cure diarrhea:
\n\u2022 Loperamide(Imodium)<\/b> slows down the movement of food through intestines. This aids more fluid intake in the body.
\n\u2022 Bismuthsubsalicylate<\/b> balances the flow of fluid through the digestive tract.
\nFor infants or children, vaccination against the virus is the ultimate cure.
\nIn case of failure from the above remedies, the doctor sometimes advices for some antimicrobial therapies to treat bacterial gastroenteritis. Therapies are as listed:
\n\u2022 Aeromonas species
\n\u2022 Bacillus species
\n\u2022 Campylobacter species
\n\u2022 C difficile
\n\u2022 C perfringens
\n\u2022 Listeria species
\n\u2022 Plesiomonas species
\n\u2022 V cholera
\n\u2022 Yersinia species[\/fusion_text][\/fusion_builder_column][\/fusion_builder_row][\/fusion_builder_container]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What is Diarrhea? Diarrhea or Diarrhoea is a disorder that occurs when there is a frequent need to have a bowel movement. The stool occurs to be loose and watery. It might occur as a result of a viral or bacterial infection or sometimes due to food poisoning. Diarrhea can be acute or chronic. Acute […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n