What is watery diarrhea?
Diarrhea generally describes an increased amount of bowel movement. In most cases, the amount of fluid is significantly increased, and there is also a higher frequency of bowel movements, so that affected persons by definition must have bowel movements at least three times a day. Aqueous diarrhea is characterized by its extremely high proportion of liquid components. Typically, the bowel movement is no longer solid or mushy, but watery diarrhea is more or less just colored water (usually yellowish or brownish). In addition, the diarrhea can hardly be kept and affected persons have to visit a toilet for defecation very often during the day.
What are the causes of watery diarrhea?
Diarrhoea like water is usually caused by pathogens like bacteria or viruses. These include bacterial species such as Eschericia coli (E. coli), which cause diseases such as EHEC (enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli) or ETEC (enterotoxin-producing Escherichia coli). Food poisoning is also frequently caused by bacteria such as salmonella or enterotoxins (toxins contained in the bacteria), for example from the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus.
Watery diarrhea can also be infected in contaminated water, in which case the bacterium Vibrio cholerae can trigger the disease cholera. In addition, viral pathogens can also be the cause of watery diarrhoea. Typical representatives of the diarrhoea-triggering viruses are the Noro- and Rotavirus.
In addition, inflammatory bowel diseases, various drugs or metabolic disorders can also cause severe diarrhea. Cholera is a diarrhoea disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The infection is mainly transmitted through contaminated water, occasionally also through food or directly from person to person.
The disease often occurs in regions where the hygienic conditions are particularly poor or where many people live together in a very confined space. Most infections with cholera are mild, but one in ten affected persons can develop severe watery diarrhea (so-called rice water stools). Abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting also occur with cholera.
The disease becomes dangerous if the sick person does not take in enough liquid. Hygienic precautions against the infection are especially helpful, and vaccination is also possible. If the disease nevertheless breaks out, sufficient liquid must be drunk (and, if necessary, given through the vein).
In severe cases, the disease can also be treated with antibiotics. Diabetes is a metabolic disease in which the body is unable to sufficiently reduce blood sugar levels. In most cases, this leads to increased excretion of the sugar via the urine, so that affected persons have to urinate particularly frequently.
However, bowel movements can also be affected by the increased sugar level. In this case, a so-called osmotic diarrhea occurs: due to the many sugar molecules in the bowel movement, a particularly large amount of water is drawn into the bowel. As a result, the bowel movement becomes very fluid, which can lead to symptoms such as diarrhoea.
Only rarely does diabetes trigger diarrhea like water, however. General information about the disease can be found on our website: Diabetes mellitusThe norovirus is one of the most common viral pathogens for diarrhoea. In adults, it accounts for half of all non-bacterial diarrheal diseases.
In children, noroviruses are the second most common trigger of viral diarrhea (diarrhea) after rotaviruses. The risk of infection with viral diarrheal diseases such as the norovirus is very high, so that the disease spreads quickly, especially in community facilities such as kindergartens, hospitals and retirement homes. Typically, a very watery diarrhea with nausea and vomiting occurs.
However, the symptoms persist for only one or two days. The therapy consists primarily of sufficient fluid intake. In addition, affected individuals must be isolated as quickly as possible to prevent the norovirus from spreading. Children and elderly people are particularly at risk for complications (usually caused by severe dehydration). General information about this disease can be found here: Norovirus – How dangerous is it?
