DIGESTIVE DISORDERS- Diarrhea
Diarrhea is one of the commonest sufferings and everyone
would have been affected by it at one time or the other. People will also fear
diarrhea since there are evidences of death with the outbreak of cholera.
Diarrhea is medically termed as gastroenteritis, which means more than
three loose stools in a day. Diarrhea usually makes a patient restless and
tired with its uncontrollable urgency and frequent evacuation of stools. Mostly
passing of stool develops as a habit. Some may do it once daily, some, twice a
day. Some others may do it even thrice, i.e. before/after every meal. But in
all these cases, if the stool is formed with digested particles, it should be
considered as normal. In case of diarrhea, it will also be very watery or loose
stools with purging.
In Siddha or Ayurveda treatment, many a times, doctors often start the
treatment with purgatives to clean the stomach and intestines first. The
benefits of diarrhea are:
·
It is as an alarming sign for invasion of an
infective/irritable agent into the body.
·
It can also be considered a natural preventive mechanism,
which washes away the toxins from our body.
·
It may also point to internal diseases, where care is
more essential.
But, thinking that diarrhea usually stops within a day, many people allow
it to run its course without taking any medication or try to treat it with home
remedies. This attitude may sometimes force them to the emergency ward.
Also, nowadays, people get confused between diarrhea and dysentery.
Diarrhea is a start-up of loose stools and it may be a part of dysentery.
Dysentery is an infectious and highly serious condition where there will be
discharge of mucous, pus and blood in the stools.
In both cases, fever and abdominal pain may or may not occur, depending
upon the infection/toxin load. Often, both make the sufferer lose weight and
strength. Diarrhea, which usually follows unusual diet/circumstances, need not
be worried about if it is mild, but recurrent and chronic diarrhea needs to be
cautiously treated since there will be surely an underlying serious problem.
Incidences – Diarrhea can affect any age group
cutting across the urban, rural divide. But most commonly, infants below one
year are the victims.
Pathophysiology – The stomach and duodenum digest every food item
that passes through them. The rhythmic peristaltic contractions slowly push
away the digested food towards the anus to expel it. Meanwhile, the intestines
absorb nutrients from the digested food. The duration and quality of the
digestion differs. For example – water passes immediately within 10 minutes, as
no digestion is needed. A pressed potato will be digested within 20 minutes in
the stomach. A vegetarian meal takes nearly 45 min – 1 hour. But non-vegetarian
diet like meat, chicken, fish, etc., take nearly 1½ hours or more.
If digestion cannot be performed due to toxicity, irritability or overload,
then the stomach and intestine emit everything as diarrhea or vomiting. The
control of the brain in the usual process of defecation, depending upon the
time, place and circumstance, becomes impossible in the case of diarrhea due to
increased frequent peristaltic contractions. Mal-absorption and dehydration
usually follows as diarrhea runs its course, since the frequency and urgency
give no time for the intestines to absorb any nutrients or water.
Types of diarrhea – Diarrhea can be classified
as acute and chronic depending upon the period of suffering and seriousness.
Usually, acute diarrhea occurs suddenly and lasts for a few days at the
most, whereas chronic diarrhea is persistent and lasts longer (more than
10 days) with serious inflammatory/irritable bowel diseases.
CAUSES External factors
Infection – usually comes from the source of contaminated
food/water. These types of diarrhea are often contagious. The common infective
agents are
·
Bacteria – E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter,
etc.
·
Parasites – Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia Lamblia,
Cryptosporidium, worms, etc.
·
Virus – Rotavirus, Norwalk virus, etc.
Foods – Spicy, hot food can cause diarrhea
Toxins – Chemicals or decayed food or poison can cause diarrhea
Mechanical – Ingestion of any hard food substance can also cause diarrhea
Habits – Overindulgence in alcohol and irregular dietary habit can also cause
diarrhea
Drugs and therapy – Long-term use of laxatives, antacids, cancer drugs,
antibiotics, radiation therapy, etc., can produce chronic diarrhea
Internal factors
Mind & neurological- anxiety, worries, excessive thinking and
tension often cause vagal stimulation. This stimulation causes more acid
secretion in the stomach which often induces diarrhea. Also, some women often
suffer from diarrhea during menses, since the rectum becomes irritable from
adjacent menstruating uterus.
Deficiency – Vitamins, minerals and zinc
Diseases – Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), cancer,
tuberculosis, AIDS, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel
syndrome (IBS), liver diseases, typhoid, etc.
Allergies – Food allergy, lactose intolerances, mal-absorption,
etc.
Symptoms
Usually, diarrhea starts suddenly by stirring up the abdomen with a
rumbling sound and creates a frequent feeling or urge to evacuate stool. On an
attempt to defecate, it empties the bowel in a purge. It may or may not be
accompanied by abdominal pain and fever. The frequency and volume of stool
varies with the type of diarrhea that has set in. Normally, acute diarrhea gets
resolved in 2-5 days. It is better to take care to avoid complications.
Loose stools usually vary with their contents (digested/undigested), colour
(yellowish, greenish, brownish, bloody, rice watery, watery, or as the colour
of the food intake), volume and odour. In due course, aversion to food/drinks
develops with dehydration and tenesmus of anus with mucous discharge.
Sometimes, fecal incontinence may also result. Later, the symptoms of
dehydration present its symptoms as symptoms of diarrhea. They are:
·
tremors, weakness and cramps due to loss of electrolytes,
especially sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus
·
excessive thirst with dryness of mouth, throat, mucous
membranes with giddiness, sweating and increased heart rate due to massive
fluid loss
·
weight loss and hollow cheeks decreased urine output and
sub-normal temperature
Diagnosis – Diarrhea is usually diagnosed with physical
examination and history of food, drinks, travel and emotions. Further, if
diarrhea happens to persist, examining the stool gives a better idea. Colour
and odor can also give a clue for diagnosis and severity.
Stool examination – Microscopic examination usually
identifies the presence of blood,lymphocytes, amoebic cysts, pus cells, cell
debris, bacteria
Biopsy and culture – can point out the nature of the disease
and presence of bacteria and parasites
Blood tests may show increased level of white blood cells
due to antibody reaction
Ultra sound scan – rules out major structural illness
related with the abdomen
Colonoscopy/sigmoidoscopy helps in finding out ulcers,
inflammation and structural change of intestines. Inflammation near the rectum
points more towards ulcerative colitis, whereas inflammation near the small
intestines points to Crohn’s disease.
Complications
If diarrhoea is not properly taken care of, it may turn out to be fatal,
especially in the case of children and elderly people. Commonly, complications
are due to dehydration and mal-absorption. Weight reduction is also a common
consequence. Anal complaints like piles and prolapse of anus/rectum can also
occur if the sufferer strains often while passing stool.
PREVENTION – An ounce of prevention is better than pounds of
cure.
General
·
Keep good hygienic, sanitary conditions
·
Make servers or chefs wear gloves while preparing or
serving food to avoid food contamination
·
Cook well in good heat, especially non-veg items
Personal
·
Take care of drinking water – either opt for mineral
water or water boiled for 20 minutes
·
Wash hands before food and after using the toilet
·
Cut and keep your nails clean
·
Wash vegetables and fruits well in flowing water before
intake or cooking. It is better to peel the outer skin, if possible.
·
Take fibre-rich diet like greens, vegetables and fruits,
since it helps in good digestion and forms stool which enhances normal bowel
habits
Management while having diarrhea
Do’s
·
Take a good amount of fluid (at least in small sips) to
tackle fluid loss
·
Take easily digestible and oil-free, bland diet to reduce
the workload for the stomach
·
Take buttermilk and vegetable soups to compensate for
electrolytes loss
Avoid
·
Tension
·
Smoking, drinking alcohol and chewing tobacco
·
Food containing high spices, chilies, pepper and sausages
·
Solid diet, oily diet, pickles and fatty snacks
·
Milk products and sweets (continue breast feeding in case
of diarrhea in infants)
·
Aerated drinks, coffee and tea
·
Drugs like NSAIDs/pain killers, antacids
General treatment
Patients with diarrhea often lose dangerous amounts of fluids, so,
the main line of treatment in Allopathy is rapid replacement of fluid loss
with IV fluids and antibiotics to control infection. In case of a mild form of
diarrhea, oral re-hydration therapy (water with required essential salts and
nutrients) is advised to prevent dehydration. Wait for the diarrhea to stop. If
diarrhea doesn’t slow down, anti-diarrhoeals drugs are used. Stopping diarrhea
may hold the infective germs in the intestines itself and so complaints may
prolong.
Homeopathic approach
Homeopathy gives importance to the cause & type of the complaint, mode
of onset of symptoms and characteristic symptoms of the patient. Drugs are
prescribed on symptom similarity for curing complaints. So, in Homeopathy,
prescription differs from person to person, i.e., each patient is treated individually.
Homeopathic treatment can give better relief from diarrhea without any
tiredness, since it stimulates the immune mechanism of the body to work against
the disease. The earlier you treat, the speedier will be the recovery. In the
safe hands of Homeopathy, you can easily and absolutely outweigh all the risks.
In Homeopathy, the medicines are not given for arresting diarrhea, since
this procedure may often cause constipation during the course of treatment or
afterwards. Homeopathy treatment aims at regaining normal rhythmic peristaltic
movement rather than stopping it.
Homeopathic medicines commonly used in cases of diarrhea are Acid Nit,
Aconite, Aesculus Hip, Aloes, Ars alb, Baptisia, apsicum, Carboveg, Causticum,
Chamomilla, Chinchona, Colocynth, Hamemelis, Ficus.R, Ignatia, Ipecac, Kali
Bich, Lycopodium, Merc sol, Mer cor, Nux Vom, Paeonia, Phosphorus, Podophyllum,
Pulsatilla, Ratahnia, Rhus tox, Sulphur, Thrombidium, etc. These Medicines
should be taken under the advice and diagnosis of a qualified Homeopath.
for new hope
Dr. S. Chidambaranathan, BHMS, MD (Homeo)
Laxmi Homeo Clinic
24 E. New Mahalipatti Road
Madurai, TN 625 001
India
Tel: +91-984-319-1011 (Mob /
Whatsapp)
Clinic : +91-452-233-8833 |
E-mail: drcheena@gmail.com
(Disclaimer: The contents of this column are
for informational purpose only. The content is not intended to be a substitute
for professional healthcare advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the
advice of healthcare professional for any health problem or medical condition.)