Posts Tagged ‘Diarhea’
Acute Diarrhea
Can be defined as diarrhea that lasts more than 4 weeks, 4 is also called gastroenteritis. Almost always considered contagious, although they are only contagious diarrhea of infectious origin. Often, what you do is reassure the patient, make sure you get adequate amounts of fluid, and wait to see your progress. In more severe cases, or where it is important to find the cause of the disease, will require a stool culture.
The most common organisms found within these crops are Campylobacter (an organism of animal origin), Salmonella (also animal), cryptosporidiosis (animal) and Giardia lamblia (lives in drinking water). The decomposing food is associated with Salmonella infections. Shigella (which causes dysentery) is less common and usually human origin.
Cholera is rare in Western countries. It is more common in travelers and is usually related to contaminated water: the ultimate source is probably sea water.
Escherichia coli is probably a very common cause of diarrhea, especially in travelers, but it can be difficult to detect with current technology. The types of E. coli vary from region to region and from country to country. Viruses, particularly rotavirus, are common in children (viral diarrhea misdiagnosed, most often by non-medical practice). Norwalk virus is rare.
Rotting food, or toxins or poisons can cause diarrhea. These toxins are the Staphylococcus (often found in dairy products that have been in contact with any infected wound of the people involved in its preparation), and Bacillus cereus (eg rice in Chinese restaurants).
Secretory Diarrhea
There is an increased secretion of electrolytes (especially sodium and chloride) into the intestinal dragging water, due to an alteration in the transport of water and ions across the epithelium of intestine. In most cases dominated decreased absorption, but sometimes there is an inappropriate increase in the secretion of fluid into the lumen. In this case, we often speak of “watery diarrhea” 9 The first goal of treatment is correction of dehydration, for which fluids are preferably administered orally or intravenously to replace the fluids lost in diarrhea.
In secretory diarrhea, observe the following:
- as diarrhea is caused by a disorder of ion transport, there is no response (or very little) to fasting: no fecal volume decreases or increases if swallowed
- the osmotic gradient between the osmolarity of the stool and plasma is very small;
- fecal sodium usually> 60 mOsm; approximately equal to the plasma;
- sodium loss is greater than that of potassium;
- tend to be bulky stools, more than 1 liter per 24 h.
- fecal pH is usually neutral
- concomitant loss of bicarbonate causes a metabolic acidosis.
However, some secretory diarrhea, such as those due to malabsorption of fatty acids or laxatives such as castor oil and bile acids, can be transferred with fasting.