Ethacridine

The active ingredient ethacridine or ethacridine lactate is a substance used to treat diarrhea of bacterial origin. The preparation Metifex® contains the active ingredient ethacridine. The medicine works antibacterially, fights thus the bacteria and is called because of it also antibiotics or antiseptics. In general, it is rarely used as a drug, since the intestine is often severely damaged during a diarrhea illness and the antibiotic places an additional burden on the damaged intestinal flora.

Loperamide

A drug used particularly frequently to treat diarrhea is loperamide. Loperamide has the advantage, among other things, that it is available without a prescription and therefore does not require prior consultation with a doctor. Loperamide as a medicine against diarrhea can be used in children over 12 and in adults and is available in different doses.

The effect of loperamide as a medicine against diarrhea is based on the fact that the movement of the intestine (peristalsis) is inhibited.Because of the effect of loperamide as a drug against diarrhea, loperamide is also called an antidiarrheal drug. However, it is important to know that Loperamide is a drug against diarrhea, which only improves the symptoms, i.e. the diarrhea. However, this does not treat the cause of the diarrhoea.

If a patient suffers from diarrhoea due to a bacterial disease, Loperamide can help to reduce the diarrhoea, but the bacteria do not disappear and must be treated separately. Although loperamide is a drug for diarrhea, it is important to know that it is an opioid, just like morphine, for example. Loperamide works at the opioid receptors (so-called μ opioid receptors) in the intestine and therefore only works there, while morphine works at many other receptors, including the brain.

If loperamide is used as a medicine against diarrhoea, only a very small dose is used, but this is sufficient to calm the intestine. Loperamide can therefore be used for almost all forms of diarrhoea. Loperamide as a medicine against diarrhoea should not be used for infectious causes, for example, if the diarrhoea is caused by the bacterium Escherlia coli. Loperamide should also not be used as a drug against diarrhea in chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, such as ulcerative colitis.