Friday 24 February 2012

Reasons for dark green diarrhea

Diarrhea causes significant morbidity & mortality throughout the world & is a common symptom in ibs or the irritable bowel syndrome. It is a leading cause of mortality in the third world & worldwide is a significant cause of illness leave with resultant financial burden.



Things related to Green Diarrhea

It can be defined in various ways, but most people define their diarrhea as 'going to the toilet to open your bowels either often or producing loose to watery stools'. Technically, the diagnosis is made if the stool weight is greater than 250g a day, although in practice this is never confirmed. I am liking to classify them in to either acute or chronic diarrhea. Acute diarrhea (sudden onset, usually short-lived) is often due to infection, drugs, diet indiscretion & occasionally a brand spanking new presentation of inflammatory bowel disease. Chronic diarrhea causes are numerous, but are often characterised as osmotic (water pulled in to the bowel due to hypertonic, non-absorbed substances in the bowel lumen), secretory (where the bowel passes excessive secretions in to the bowel in the kind of fluids & salts or 'electrolytes', inflammatory (due to destroy to the bowel wall) & abnormal motility (the bowel moves by a method called peristalsis & this can be increased or decreased). Ibs diarrhea possibly part of abnormal motility, although it is an entity in its own right!


Acute signs are usually self-limiting & don't usually require further inquiry unless they either don't settle or more extreme disease occurs. Causes of chronic diarrhea do require inquiring in to & your doctor will be able to help you with this. The degree of inquiry depends on your history, but you may require investigations including blood tests, a stool sample & referral to a gastroenterologist for further investigations such as colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, CT or barium enema.Sufferers often define their stools by color. Some complain of yellow stools, green stools & black stools or possibly bloody diarrhea. Yellow diarrhea usually means steatorrhea. This is fatty stool due to overweight malabsorption in the little bowel with various causes. Of work, it is also the natural color of breast milk stools in babies ! Green diarrhea is usually indicative of infection, although it can also indicate little bowel disease & overweight malabsorption. Black diarrhea is due to upper gastrointestinal bleeding until proven otherwise & bloody diarrhea has lots of causes including infections, inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's, Ulcerative Colitis), Ischemic Colitis, acute diverticulitis, colon cancer or polyps.

Don't forget to check out Dark Green Diarrhea.