Penetration into the stomach and small intestine of pathogenic microorganisms, food toxins causes an inflammatory process in them. Gastroenteritis, as the disease is called, is acute and chronic. With gastroenteritis, complaints relate to spasmodic pain in the upper abdomen or near the navel, diarrhea. Patients complain of a feeling of weakness, malaise, body temperature rises to 39 ° -40 ° C. Signs of gastroenteritis, in addition to pain and diarrhea, include nausea, urges to vomit, which in severe course can be very frequent and painful. At the last stage of the disease there may be a confusion of consciousness, pain in the muscles, severe dizziness, weakness. In adults, signs of gastroenteritis are less pronounced than in children.
The variety of symptoms of gastroenteritis in adults depends on the type of pathogen infecting these organs. And if the common symptoms for gastroenteritis are changes in the stool, nausea, vomiting, then you can determine the specific type of the disease to some extent based on the concreteness of the symptoms. For viral gastroenteritis, which are caused by enterovirus, the first symptoms are nausea and subsequent vomiting. A little later, diarrhea begins, and the body temperature rises to 38 degrees. The incubation period is very short and ranges from two to twenty-four hours. When the coronavirus mucous membrane is affected, the respiratory tract is simultaneously affected, causing pneumonia and rhinitis, so the symptoms characteristic of these diseases are added. The disease can be transmitted from animals.
When rotavirus infection, when the disease is very acute and violent, the first symptom is a single vomiting. A little later, diarrhea is added to the symptoms, but sometimes it accompanies vomiting. Discharges of yellowish or yellow-green color, liquid or foamy, may contain mucus impurities and are a symptom caused by this virus. The pains of a cramping noisy character are localized in the lacrimal region, the temperature is rarely high and usually does not exceed 37.5 ° C.With a mild course of the disease, diarrhea occurs twice a day, and a severe degree is characterized by an increase in the number of acts of defecation up to 20 or more every day. Nausea, vomiting, general weakness, pain in the muscles and sometimes dizziness are the first symptoms of gastroenteritis caused by the parovirus.
In inflammation caused by salmonella, there is a sharp increase in temperature with a headache and a general malaise. Then the symptoms are added to the pain in the epigastrium, vomiting of the remnants of digested food with an admixture of bile. This type of disease is characterized by a sharp dehydration of the body. Staphylococcal infection is characterized by cutting pains in the stomach and multiple vomiting. Gradual dehydration leads to lethargy and flabbiness of the skin, dryness in the mouth is noted.
Treatment of gastroenteritis in adults
When referred to gastroenteritis, a doctor is first examined and palpation reveals pain points. The main symptoms that make it possible to diagnose a disease at a doctor's appointment are:
- muscle weakness;
- white coating on the tongue;
- swelling of the nasopharynx;
- marked intestinal peristalsis;
- subfebrile body temperature;
- muted heart tone;
- symptoms of dehydration.
Laboratory tests of feces and blood are then assigned, allowing more precise identification of the pathogen and the appropriate treatment.
Treatment of gastroenteritis depends on the severity and severity of the disease. The acute form of the disease is treated in a hospital. At the same time, if the infectious nature of the disease is reasonably established, then the patient is placed in the infectious department. To remove toxins immediately prescribed gastric lavage with sodium bicarbonate solution, and then taking laxatives to clean the intestines.
The choice of the treatment regimen for adult gastroenteritis symptoms, and which medications need to be employed, depends not only on the nature of the disease, but also on the cause that has inflamed inflammation. The most common inflammation of the stomach and small intestine is caused by an infection introduced into the human body. If for a healthy person this disease can be limited to temporary inconveniences, then for the elderly and for those who have concomitant severe illnesses, the disease can lead to severe pathological changes.
The main directions in the treatment of gastroenteritis are:
- Recovery of water-electrolyte balance, which is disturbed by dehydration of the body.
- Medication depending on the type of pathogen.
- Restoration and normalization of intestinal microflora.
- Dietary food.
- Adjustment of the normal process of digestion.
Chronic gastroenteritis, its symptoms and treatment take a long time to achieve a positive result. In this case, it is necessary to completely exclude from the life of the factors that provoked the disease, adhere to the diet and change their diet, lifestyle. Specific recommendations on how to treat gastroenteritis can be given by a gastroenterologist on the basis of the results of laboratory tests and analysis of the disease.
The mild degree of the disease does not require inpatient treatment. First of all, for successful treatment it is necessary to follow a diet, eliminating foods that enhance fermentation in the intestines, and the use of acute, fatty, fried foods, which irritatively affects the inflamed mucosa of the stomach and intestines. To restore the water-salt balance, it is recommended to drink plenty of liquid and saline solutions in small portions, but often.
Treatment of gastroenteritis with drugs involves the use of sorbents that remove toxic substances from the human body, and antimicrobials are used to kill and stop the growth of microorganisms. Of the large group of enzyme preparations, those that are most effective for treating each type of disease are chosen.
If the disease is severe, then the infusion and antibiotic therapy is additionally carried out. Most patients need bed rest with convenient access to the toilet or a bedpan. In some cases with severe severe attacks of vomiting, prescribe antiemetics, with the exception of surgical pathology. Antibiotics are prescribed only after the results of bacteriological culture of stool.
Treatment of gastroenteritis with folk remedies
Folk remedies for gastroenteritis are used as an auxiliary therapy, in the form of broths, medicinal herbs and the inclusion of individual foods in the diet. For example, broth from a cranberry in connection with its strong antiseptic properties, it is useful to accept at an infectious inflammation. To strengthen immunity in severe disease, jelly from the tubers of the orchis is very effective. To remove inflammation and stop diarrhea, use a tincture from the black head, which is taken before meals at least five times a day. Against diarrhea, decoctions are taken from the roots of ayr, altea, wormwood, oak bark, cherry fruit, and other plants and fruits that have astringent properties.