subject: Diarrhea And Dysentery [print this page] What is Diarrhea? What is Diarrhea?
Diarrhea is defined as increased stool frequency (three or more liquid or pasty stool at 24 hours) with reduced consistency. It is important to differentiate between a single episode of loose stools that can be simply secondary to a change in diet and does not usually have no effect on the individual's health
Like any symptom, diarrhea has many different characteristics that may suggest their cause and will guide the need and type of treatment. The aspects of diarrhea to be observed are the amount, the presence of blood or pus, the time course and associated symptoms such as fever and abdominal pain. The main feature that should be evaluated in diarrhea is the time evolution.
Acute diarrhea
Diarrhea is not exceeding 14 days. The main cause of acute diarrhea is a bacterial or viral infection that can be acquired through contaminated food (food poisoning) or contaminated water. The infectious cause is even more suggestive when other people have the same symptoms or when the individual made a recent trip (traveler's diarrhea). Other possible causes of acute diarrhea are the use of antibiotics, laxatives and alcohol intoxication.
The vast majority of acute diarrhea is self-limiting, or disappear with or without treatment, and have a mean duration of 5 days.
Dysentery
Dysentery is a type of acute diarrhea. It is characterized by the presence of mucus, pus or blood associated with fever and abdominal pain more intense. Dysentery suggests more aggressive and infectious agents, as we shall see, require treatment with antibiotics.
Chronic diarrhea
It is the diarrhea that lasts more than 3 weeks. In the case of chronic diarrhea infectious etiology is less likely to be some of the differential diagnoses lactose intolerance, irritable bowel syndrome, an inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatic insufficiency and use of medications (anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensives, etc. .. .) Some systemic diseases may present with chronic diarrhea, such as diabetes and hyperthyroidism. People with previous surgery for removal of part of the intestine can develop chronic diarrhea.
Treatment
Treatment of acute diarrhea is usually done empirically, ie without finding out what the real cause. If the diarrhea does not have other associated symptoms (fever, vomiting, abdominal pain) is only symptomatic treatment can be used loperamide for stopping diarrhea and hydration (intravenous or oral) for the patient to recover the liquid lost in the feces. In the case of dysentery (blood, pus or mucus in the stool), treatment with antibiotics is recommended.
In the treatment of chronic diarrhea, the investigation of the etiology is essential and every disease need special treatment. As symptomatic treatment, the same features of acute diarrhea can be used may also be used clonidine and cholestyramine depending on the cause of diarrhea.
