Types, Causes, Complications & Treatment

 What is diarrhea?

Go to the bathroom, poop, poop, no matter what you call it, the stool is a regular part of your life. However, sometimes this process of removing waste from your body changes. When you have loose or watery stools, it is called diarrhea. This is a very common condition and usually resolves without intervention.

Diarrhea can occur for a wide variety of reasons and usually clears up on its own in one to three days. When you have diarrhea, you may need to rush to the bathroom urgently and this can happen more often than usual. You may also feel bloated, have cramps in your lower abdomen, and sometimes experience nausea.

Although most cases of diarrhea are self-limited (occurring over a fixed period of time and a constant level of severity), sometimes diarrhea can lead to serious complications. Diarrhea can cause dehydration (when your body loses large amounts of water), electrolyte imbalance (loss of sodium, potassium, and magnesium that play a key role in vital body functions), and kidney failure (not enough blood/fluid is supplied to the kidneys). When you have diarrhea, you lose water and electrolytes along with your stool. You need to drink plenty of fluids to replace what you lost. Dehydration can become serious if it does not resolve (improve), gets worse, and is not treated properly.

What is the difference between normal diarrhea and severe diarrhea?

There are actually several different ways to classify diarrhea. These types of diarrhea include:

• Acute diarrhea: The most common acute diarrhea is watery diarrhea that lasts for one to two days. This type does not need treatment and usually goes away after a few days.
• Persistent diarrhea: This type of diarrhea usually persists for several weeks, two to four weeks.
• Chronic diarrhea: Diarrhea that lasts more than four weeks or that comes and goes regularly for a long period of time is called chronic diarrhea.

Who can get diarrhea?

Anyone can get diarrhea. It is not uncommon for many people to have diarrhea several times a year. It is very common and is generally not a major concern for most people.

However, diarrhea can be serious in certain groups of people, including:

• Small children.
• Older adults (elderly).
• Those with medical conditions.

For each of these people, diarrhea can cause other health problems.

Can diarrhea harm your health?

In general, diarrhea is self-limited and goes away (resolves) without intervention. If your diarrhea does not improve and does not resolve completely, you may be at risk of complications (dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, kidney failure, and organ damage).

Call your healthcare provider if you have diarrhea that does not improve or go away, or if you experience symptoms of dehydration. These symptoms can include:

• Dark urine and small amounts of urine or loss of urine production.
• Fast heart rate
• Headaches
• Red and dry skin.
• Irritability and confusion
• Lightheadedness and dizziness
• Severe nausea and vomiting, inability to tolerate or retain anything by mouth.

What Causes Diarrhea?

The cause of most self-limited diarrhea is generally not identified. The most common cause of diarrhea is a virus that infects your intestine ("viral gastroenteritis"). The infection usually lasts a couple of days and is sometimes called the "intestinal flu."

Other possible causes of diarrhea can include:

• Bacterial infection.
• Infections with other organisms and preformed toxins
• Eating foods that alter the digestive system.
• Allergies and intolerances to certain foods (celiac disease or lactose intolerance).
• Medicines.
• Radiotherapy.
• Food malabsorption (malabsorption).