Introduction
The symptom diarrhea is generally referred to as diarrhea when one has large amounts (more than 3 times a day) of stool (more than 250ml per day) that is too fluid (more than 75% water) and therefore unformed. This can be accompanied by various symptoms, which will be discussed in more detail below.
Classification
One speaks of acute diarrhea when it lasts from a few days to a few weeks. If diarrhea occurs over more than 3 weeks, it is called chronic diarrhea. The bowel movement can be of different nature: If the amount of fat in the bowel movement is too high, it is called fatty stool (steatorrhea).
If the liver or gallbladder is diseased and lacks bile acids, the bowel movement is partly discolored, i.e. light-colored.
- If the amount of fat in the bowel movement is too high, this is called fatty stool (steatorrhea). This looks greasy and shiny
- In diseases of the liver or gallbladder with a deficiency of bile acids, the stool is partly discolored, i.e. light-colored.
- Also mucus can be added to the stool, which can occur in various diseases.
Blood in stool
Diarrhea can also be accompanied by blood in the stool. Bloody stool as a symptom has various causes (including infections, inflammations, colon cancer). If there is blood in the stool, it can appear as tarry stool (melena).
In this case, the stool is black because the contact of the red blood pigment (haemoglobin) with the stomach acid produces haematin, which leads to a change in color. Tarry stools are shiny black and malodorous. This is mainly found in bleeding in the area of the upper gastrointestinal tract (esophagus, stomach, upper small intestine).
Fresh blood in the stool (haematochecia) is more indicative of bleeding in the lower gastrointestinal tract. A distinction must be made as to whether the blood is mixed with or deposited in the stool. Bright red blood in the stool, which is also found on toilet paper, indicates a lesion in the rectum or anus (e.g. hemorrhoids) and black diarrhea is a symptom of various underlying diseases, which is often perceived by patients as extremely unpleasant and threatening.
Depending on the respective cause, corresponding accompanying symptoms can often provide clues. Among the frequent accompanying symptoms are In the case of colorectal cancer, in addition to diarrhea, unintentional weight loss, fever and night sweats are also found in some cases as an indication of a malignant disease.
- Abdominal pain
- Flatulence
- Nausea/vomiting
- Pain during bowel movement
- Fever
- Tiredness, drowsiness up to coma with excessive loss of water and salts
- Kidney dysfunction due to reduced water content in the body
- Cardiac arrhythmia due to changes in blood salts
