In a healthy adult, the color of the feces is brown, with a variation of shades. Color is due to the presence of the pigment in the stork, depending on its concentration, the color may be darker or lighter.
A large influence on this indicator is provided by the diet, as well as the intake of certain medications, especially those containing iron. Unnatural greenish-black, red, gray and other shades are signs of the presence of ulcers, pancreatitis, hepatitis and other diseases.
If a dark feces is found, you need to carefully analyze your diet in the last few days. Black stool, formed as a result of the use of medicines and food products, does not cause any harm to health and does not require the appointment of medical procedures.
For several days, the color of the stool should be normalized, provided that the provoking products are excluded from the diet. In this article, we measure whether black feces are a sign of something dangerous in an adult or not.
Why does black feces occur: dangerous causes
What does this mean? The black chair is a characteristic symptom of bleeding from the upper sections of the gastrointestinal tract.
Hemoglobin is exposed to acids and bacteria, which stains the stools in black. If you have a diagnosed GI disease or there are no other reasons for staining the stool black, urgently call for an ambulance.
In this case, adults have black calf?
In a healthy person, black stool may appear due to the fact that he consumed foods in large quantities that contain a fat-soluble coloring substance. These include:
- blood sausage;
- liver;
- red beet;
- meat products, in which there is an admixture of animal blood;
- tomatoes;
- black currant;
- prunes.
In adults, this phenomenon can be observed after use:
- chokeberry;
- blueberries;
- of red grapes;
- grenade;
- red wine with the addition of dyes.
Influence of medicines
Permanent intake of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs( "Aspirin", "Ibuprofen", etc.), which are prescribed for joint diseases, often cause micro-erosions of the gastric mucosa, which bleed, staining the stools in a dark color.
Also, feces can become black with the use of medications that contain a lot of iron. They are mainly used to treat anemia. This includes drugs that contain bismuth or activated carbon. And in the first, and in the second case, resort to treatment is not necessary. Just exclude from the diet products and drugs that can cause unusual stool color.
Black feces as a sign of diseases in adults
If a black stool appears suddenly, you should look for the causes of this phenomenon in the work of the gastrointestinal tract.
This clinical symptom may indicate gastrointestinal bleeding from the upper parts of the digestive tract, for example, in peptic ulcer disease, neoplasms in the stomach or cirrhosis, accompanied by varicose veins of the esophagus.
Do not think that in this case the feces must contain blood: in the digestive tract, blood is processed by enzymes and bacteria along with food, coagulates and changes color from red to black.
Usually, this reason for the appearance of a black stool is not accompanied by this symptom alone. About internal problems may also speak one of the concomitant conditions of a person:
- temperature;
- nausea;
- vomiting;
- pallor of the skin;
- cold sweat;
- increase and soreness of the liver;
- stomach pain.
Internal hemorrhage may also be indicated by a low level of hemoglobin in a general blood test or the detection of latent blood in the analysis of stool. For any of these symptoms, in conjunction with the appearance of black stools, you should immediately consult a doctor.
Black feces during pregnancy, why?
As for pregnant women, all multivitamin complexes for pregnant women contain iron, which stains the stool. This is considered normal and does not require additional measures.
At the same time, doctors insist that out of the body goes excess iron, so do not stop taking vitamins. Simply, the body absorbs the amount that the mother and the child need, and sends the excess to waste. From the next article you will find out why there is incontinence. Therefore, if there are no other symptoms, then you should not worry, but in order to calm yourself, it is enough just to stop taking vitamins for a couple of days and make sure that the chair is normalized.
It's another matter if black feces are not associated with vitamins during pregnancy. In this case, you need to urgently consult a doctor to take all the necessary tests.
What should I do with this problem?
Of course, before starting any therapeutic measures, you should find out why the feces turned black.
If the dark color of stool is related to the nature of food or medication, then there is no need for therapeutic measures. Also, do not stop medication and exclude coloring products, because the change in stool color in this situation does not lead to any negative effect on the body.
By itself, black feces are not dangerous. But it can signal serious problems in the body, up to the states that can lead to death if there is no timely assistance.
On the other hand, it is often explained by the banal intake of certain foods that color the feces in an unusual color. In any case, do not be "squeamish" by studying the state of your own chair and even more so you can not ignore its changes.
Nature is wise - it has provided a whole system of signals and markers, which should make a person think about whether everything is OK with him.
What does black-green feces mean?
Black and green feces always indicate a problem in the human body. So, liquid feces of black-green color( diarrhea) most often indicate intestinal infection or other infectious disease. Very often black and green diarrhea begins dysentery.
Such black-and-green diarrhea at the beginning of the disease can not be combined with a rise in temperature, abdominal pain, nausea and other symptoms of infection. But gradually, the listed clinical signs of infection will also join the liquid stool, painted in black-green color.
Therefore, once a person has noted the allocation of a black-green liquid stool, it is necessary to urgently seek medical help and not wait for the appearance of temperature, because in the future the condition will worsen, and the infectious disease will still require treatment.
What do black dots in feces mean?
Black dots in feces have the form of inclusions, grains, fine threads, granules or grains of sand. All these options are called black dots. Such clear black inclusions in the stool are almost always partially digested or completely undigested solid particles of food or medicines.
So, black dots in feces can look like seeds of kiwi, raspberries, currants, pieces of grape seeds, particles of husks from seeds, poppy seeds, etc.
Most often, the appearance of black dots in feces in children and adults is led by the following foods:
- persimmon;
- banana;
- apple;
- kiwi fruit.
For example, when using bananas in feces, small black strings may appear that are similar to worms, especially in children.