Often a person may experience such an unpleasant condition, in which the number of acts of defecation increases several times, and the faeces acquire a liquid, almost watery consistency, and the process is accompanied by painful sensations in the abdomen. It can happen regardless of the patient's age. It is called diarrhea or diarrhea and carries the danger of dehydration. The reason for it is upset stomach or intestines. Its appearance is usually due to the violation in them of the processes of hydrolysis, in which the water that gets into these organs is not absorbed into the body, but comes out together with the calves outwards. It develops usually for a number of reasons:
- A dramatic change in the diet with the inclusion of unfamiliar products;
- Eating large amounts of fatty, salty or spicy foods;Hungry diets or regular snacks.
Also, a possible cause of diarrhea can be stressful situations, the so-called psychological factor, alcohol abuse, infectious diseases of the digestive system, long-term courses of treatment with drugs such as antibiotics or estrogens. Symptomatic disorders of the stomach in adults are determined by a complex of complaints that are associated with pain in the abdomen, its swelling, flatulence and the presence of mucus in the stool. At the same time histological examination does not reveal pathological changes in the digestive tract. Regardless of the causes of diarrhea, its symptoms, such as frequent watery stools and accompanying unceasing vomiting, can cause severe dehydration. Therefore, when the first symptoms of diarrhea appear, you should immediately contact a specialist to prescribe the appropriate treatment.
Causes of diarrhea
In adults, a phenomenon such as diarrhea, regardless of the causes of its causes, is not a dangerous condition, and its symptoms are quickly amenable to treatment at home, but in elderly people or children, diarrhea, as a consequence of an upset stomach, is capable of leadingto a strong dehydration of the body with all the ensuing consequences. Therapy of such a state in these age categories is usually carried out under stationary conditions. Diarrhea, can occur in acute and chronic forms. Clinical classification of diarrhea should take into account the conditions of life, the possible causes of liquid stool and the duration of the course of the syndrome. In the event that it lasts no more than 1-2 weeks, it is an acute form. Why does diarrhea occur?
The most frequent prerequisites for the development of this condition is infection in the intestine of the patient. The cause of infection and acute diarrhea, as a rule, is non-compliance with personal hygiene requirements: eating poorly washed fruits and vegetables, contaminated water, eating with dirty hands. As a result, pathogenic microorganisms are able to penetrate the gastrointestinal tract. Many of them die on contact with the acidic gastric enzyme, but there are also those who, under certain circumstances, can survive, move into the intestines and provoke diarrhea. In this case, the stool of a person becomes very frequent and liquid. The diarrhea that appears due to infection is rare, but can go on into a chronic stage. In this case, the patient needs an additional examination and a special course of treatment.
Physiological factors that cause a loose stool, experts consider violations in the work of intestinal peristalsis. The dilution of stools can occur due to both weakening and strengthening. In any of these cases, the intestinal tract is disturbed by the suction function, a large amount of liquid entering into it, with microelements dissolved in it, mixes with the calves and exits outward in the form of diarrhea. This cause is usually provoked by irritable bowel syndrome.
Causes of liquid stool
Experts distinguish several varieties of diarrhea, depending on the causes of it provoked:
- Secretory. It is due to the fact that a large amount of water enters the lumen of the intestine through the mucous membrane. The cause of diarrhea of this species is partial suppression of absorption in the intestine with simultaneous enhancement of active secretion;
- Osmotic diarrhea occurs due to the fact that osmotically active substances enter the digestive system, which are poorly absorbed;
- Inflammatory diarrhea. Its severity depends on the degree of mucosal damage, and the cause is the pathology of the intestine.
Symptoms in all three species are usually similar: frequent and loose stools, abdominal pain and discomfort. In the event that diarrhea occurs due to inflammation, feces can have bloody and mucous inclusions in the stool.
Causes of diarrhea in the elderly
With age, changes in the functional functioning of the digestive tract become more pronounced. This leads to constant disturbances of the stool - constipation or diarrhea. For the elderly, such dysfunction of the intestine is very dangerous, especially when it is expressed by an impassable diarrhea. With her, the person defecates more than 5 times a day and the stools are watery. As a result, dehydration of the body develops very quickly. Also, the cause of diarrhea in the elderly is very often chronic chronic diseases.
Some people with age disorder of the stool can show up daily, in the mornings, absolutely for no apparent reason. If the problem of this kind is chronic, it is necessary to consult a specialist, as, most likely, it is a sign of developing oncology. But if diarrhea without apparent causes lasts not constantly, but appears from time to time, you need to think about what leads to this. Most often people in their own age provoke such a reaction of the body. Without apparent cause, its manifestation may be against the background of taking laxatives, since these preparations contain substances that are not absorbed into the intestine and are excreted in this way.
Diarrhea can also appear for no apparent reason due to the use of any products. This is because with age, the functional activity of the stomach and intestines is weakened, and the process of digesting food takes place with great difficulty. To prevent such unpleasant manifestations, the elderly should be very careful about the diet.
Causes of diarrhea in men
Liquid and frequent stools in the stronger sex usually appears due to various factors. The most common causes of diarrhea in men are all kinds of diseases and infections of the gastrointestinal tract. There are a number of other prerequisites:
- Stool disorder in men is often due to improper digestive gland functioning and insufficient secretion in the digestive tract. As a result, there is a disruption in the process of digesting food;
- Diarrhea in men may result from poisoning with poisons, for example, mercury or arsenic. This often occurs when working in hazardous production;
- Medication. It is caused by side effects of drugs, which are mostly antibiotics that kill besides the pathogenic microflora in the intestine and useful microorganisms.
Men are prone to stressful conditions, so the psychological factor plays an important role in the appearance of "bearish illness" in them.
Psychological causes of diarrhea
In addition to food poisoning, eating disorders and infectious diseases, the usual stress is becoming a frequent factor provoking the development of a loose stool. Many people are wondering why he can cause diarrhea. This is usually due to the fact that during a psychological overstrain the body in large quantities produces strong chemicals and adrenaline, which have a strong influence on the central nervous system.
As a consequence, all processes, including the work of the digestive organs, are accelerated in the body. At the same time, the balance of the intestine is reduced, the fluid is absorbed worse and diarrhea arises. To get rid of it simply enough not resorting even to medicamentous treatment. It is enough only to remove the psychological cause that causes it.
Causes and treatment of diarrhea in adults
For the most part, therapy for this dysfunction of the digestive organs of adults is not required, as it quickly passes by itself. But only in the case when pathological admixtures, such as bloody inclusions, are absent in watery excrement. The appearance of secreted masses of blood from the intestine is the first signal to call for a specialist and to undergo appropriate diagnostics, since the factors for its occurrence are often very serious. They can talk about such pathologies of the digestive organs as a serious bacterial infection, hemorrhoidal or intestinal bleeding. These causes mostly threaten the life of the patient.
Therefore, if there is such a symptom as watery diarrhea with an admixture of blood, immediate treatment is required. In the elderly person or child, even the absence of bloody inclusions in watery excrements is the reason for immediate treatment, since they can quickly develop dehydration of the body.