What is Good for Diarrhoea? Causes of Diarrhoea, What is Good for Diarrhoea?

What is diarrhoea?

Diarrhoea, also known as diarrhoea, is usually accompanied by symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Diarrhoea, which occurs in this way, causes defecation to be much more than normal during the day and the stool becomes soft and watery. Diarrhoea, which is one of the most common disorders in both children and adults, usually resolves within a few days either on its own or with supplements prescribed by a specialist doctor. 

In some cases, diarrhoea may continue for 10 days or more. If you encounter such a situation, you should see a specialist doctor immediately and get professional support for the treatment of both dehydration caused by the fluid lost by your body and diarrhoea that continues for such a long period of time. For diarrhoea lasting 10 days or more, there is usually a high probability that there is a bigger underlying problem, so the methods you can apply to relieve diarrhoea on your own at home may affect you even worse.

What are the Types of Diarrhoea?

Since diarrhoea is not a type of disease on its own, there are no different types of diarrhoea. We can only list the types of diarrhoea according to their severity and duration as follows:

Acute Diarrhoea: This type of diarrhoea usually lasts for 2 or 3 days and ends with the body healing itself without the need for any extra treatment. 

Chronic Diarrhoea: Chronic diarrhoea is a type of diarrhoea that can continue for 10 days to 4 weeks or recur continuously during this period. When you encounter such a type of diarrhoea, you should see a health institution and a specialist doctor immediately.

Why Does Diarrhoea Occur?

The most common causes of diarrhoea are bacteria, viruses, various parasites, celiac disease, lactose intolerance. In childhood, causes such as rotavirus acute, antibiotics, milk and dairy products containing plenty of lactose, bacterial growth in the small intestine in much higher amounts than normal and fructose cause diarrhoea. 

What are the Symptoms of Diarrhoea?

Going to the toilet 3 times or more during the day and defecating both soft and liquid stools are generally called diarrhoea or diarrhoea. Apart from this; feeling the urgent need to go to the toilet, inability to hold stool, fluid loss, nausea or vomiting, feeling weak and gas accumulation are among the other symptoms of diarrhoea. Other symptoms that occur when a person has diarrhoea can be listed as follows:

• High or above normal temperature
• Vomiting
• Blood in the stool
• Seeing mucus in faeces
• Inability to control the bowels
• Faecal incontinence

These symptoms and the symptoms that follow may vary from person to person; If you experience them for longer than normal, consult a specialist doctor immediately.

Can diarrhoea be a sign of a disease?

Diarrhoea is more common in childhood than in adults as a sign of illness. As we have already mentioned, parasites, viruses, bacteria and intestinal infections cause diarrhoea in children. This can be the cause of food poisoning, teething disorders, food allergies, overuse of antibiotics, upper or lower respiratory tract diseases and some congenital metabolic disorders.

In adults, it may be a symptom of parasitic infections, heavy metal poisoning, Covid-19, irritable bowel syndrome. 

How is diarrhoea diagnosed? 

Diagnosing diarrhoea is usually not difficult. Depending on the complaints of the patients, specialised doctors often refer to tests such as the following:

Stool culture (sample) to look for parasites and bacteria in the stool,

Various blood tests to identify and rule out certain possible diseases,

Fasting test to reveal food tolerance and intolerance,

It is known as various types of endoscopic examination such as colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy.

After these tests, the patient's main problem is revealed and treatment is started accordingly.

What is Good for Diarrhoea?

As we mentioned before, diarrhoea is a normal condition that can often be treated at home or can pass on its own within a few days. Patients want to take diarrhoea under control immediately, especially since there may be situations such as incontinence of stool. For this, simple applications that you can do at home are as follows:

• Consuming banana, rice and apple puree,
• Consuming foods that do not have high fibre content such as white bread,
• Consume foods such as boiled potatoes and carrots,
• Soups made with meat broth,
• Well-cooked vegetable dishes, such as beans,
• Eat foods high in both potassium and protein, such as fish, lean meat, yoghurt and eggs,
• Consuming salt crackers,
• It can be listed as consuming plenty of fluids. 

With methods such as these, your diarrhoea can stop completely, but if it does not stop in any way, you should definitely consult a specialist physician.

How is diarrhoea treated?

Diarrhoea usually does not need specific treatment because it tends to go away on its own within a few days. However, as with any other symptom or condition, the cause of diarrhoea should first be determined, an appropriate treatment programme should be developed, and fluid loss should be compensated according to the amount of water lost by the body. Otherwise, diarrhoea can be treated as follows:

If you have mild diarrhoea, it will be sufficient to consume the foods mentioned above and drink plenty of fluids. If the person with diarrhoea is an infant, close attention should be paid to breast milk intake and fluid deficiency should be kept under control. 

In the case of moderate diarrhoea, both adults and children over 6 years of age can benefit from diarrhoea kits sold in pharmacies. 

In the case of diarrhoea that has been going on for a long time and is called persistent or chronic diarrhoea, the necessary tests should be carried out and a specialist doctor should be consulted.