Diarrhea-What are the causes and how to treat it?

by Viney Kumar Freelance Writer & blogger

Diarrhea is the most common health ailment ranging from mild to temporary to a life-threatening condition. A person suffering from diarrhea gets loose and watery stools. Some people get it more often as part of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or other conditions. This condition lasts for 2 to 3 days and can be treated with over-the-counter medicines.

Causes of Diarrhea

Diarrhea can be caused by an infection in the gastrointestinal tract. The microbes causing diarrhea are bacteria, virus and parasitic organisms. Diarrhea can be classified as; acute and chronic. Acute diarrhea occurs when it lasts for one-two days caused by a viral or bacterial infection. It can also be caused due to food poisoning. There is also a condition called traveler’s diarrhea that occurs when someone gets infected by bacteria while traveling. While chronic diarrhea lasts for at least a month. It is caused by an intestinal disease or disorder such as Crohn’s disease.

Some of the other causes of diarrhea are:

1. Drug-induced diarrhea: Laxatives and certain medicines, such as antibiotics can cause diarrhea. As diarrhea affects the absorption and reduces the effectiveness of oral medicines.

Some medications, such as certain antibiotics, can cause diarrhea. ... Diarrhea can affect the absorption (and therefore the effectiveness) of oral medications.

2.Virus: Diarrhea can be caused by different viruses such as norovirus and rotavirus. Norovirus can affect a person from any age group. While rotavirus affects infants and young children.

3.Medicines: Many medicines such as antibiotics cause diarrhea. Antibiotics destroy both good and bad bacteria that can disturb natural balance of bacteria in the intestines. Other medicines can cause diarrhea are cancer drugs and antacids with magnesium.

4.Bacteria and parasites: Bacterias and parasites can enter the body through food and water and cause diarrhea. Some of the common bacterias that cause diarrhea are Escherichia coli and Salmonella. While some of the common parasites are Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia lamblia.

5. Malabsorptive or Maldigestive diarrhea: Malabsorptive diarrhea is caused by impaired nutrient absorption. While, maldigestive absorption is caused by impaired digestive function. Celiac disease is one such common example of this condition.

Treatment of Diarrhea The treatment of diarrhea requires replacing of lost fluids. In this condition, one should drink more water or electrolyte replacement beverages like sports drinks. In some cases, one gets fluid through intravenous therapy. In most cases, doctors may prescribe antibiotics, if diarrhea is caused by a bacterial infection. The treatment of this condition depends upon:

The frequency and severity of diarrhea
The degree of the dehydration status
Health
The medical history of the patient
Patient’s age
Receptivity to different procedures or medicines
Scope of improvement

Rehydration therapy: Fluids can be replaced by drinking more fluids or received intravenously in extreme conditions. Children and elder people are more prone to dehydration. Oral rehydration salts (ORS) is the water that contains salt and glucose. It is absorbed by small intestine that replaces water and electrolytes lost in the stool. Oral rehydration products such as Electral Powder and ORS Powder Orange are easily available. Zinc supplementation may reduce the severity in children. Benefits of ORS is our body will retain fluids and salts you need.

2. Antidiarrheal medicine: Over-the-counter antidiarrheal medicines are available such as Loperamide that reduces stool passage. Bismuth subsalicylate reduces the stool output in adults and children. It is also used to prevent traveler’s diarrhea. According to the study, the antidiarrheal medicines can protract the removal of the pathogen through stools.

3. Diet: A person suffering diarrhea should keep a check on their diet. There are many foods that help a person in reducing the symptoms of diarrhea. Nutritionists suggest drinking liquid items such as fresh juice without added sugar. After a bowel movement, one should replace lost fluid with liquid. It is suggested to do most of the drinking between and not during meals.

4. Probiotics: Probiotics helps in reducing traveler’s diarrhea and reduce diarrheal illness in children in a day. They are supplements that help in improving the symptoms rather than causing it. These supplements might cut bouts of infectious diarrhea by half a day or two.

5. Antibiotics: These medicines help in treating the disease caused by bacterial infection. If the cause is certain. Taking another medicine might help.