Causes of Chronic Diarrhea
Diarrhea lasting for more than 4 weeks is considered as chronic diarrhea and need to be evaluated to exclude serious underlying pathology. Chronic diarrhea is one of the common cause of bad health state of many persons. In contrast to acute diarrhea, most of the causes of chronic diarrhea are generally noninfectious. The following are the causes of chronic diarrhea:
- Secretory causes of chronic diarrhea: Excessive use of stimulant laxatives, chronic ingestion of alcohol, certain drugs and toxins, endogenous laxatives like bile acids, idiopathic secretory diarrhea; bowel resection, disease, or fistula (reduced absorption), certain bacterial infections, Addison's disease, congenital electrolyte absorption defects, partial bowel obstruction which may be due to fecal impaction, hormone-producing tumors (carcinoid, medullary cancer of thyroid, mastocytosis, gastrinoma, colorectal villous adenoma) are the secretory causes of chronic diarrhea.
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Colon Cleansing: An Overview
Colon cleansing is part of alternative medicine and covers broad areas of removing toxins (that are not clearly identified) from gastrointestinal tract and removal of fecal waste from GIT. Colon cleansing is also sometimes called colon hydrotherapy, as it uses colonic irrigation with enema. But colon cleansing is also done with oral therapy. Generally herbs of medicinal value are added to the water which is used as enema for purpose of cleansing the gastrointestinal tract of toxins (can be called detoxification) and fecal waste.
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How to Diagnose Indigestion?
Diagnosis of the cause of indigestion may pose a problem. Proper history (a thorough interview) with a thorough physical examination may be essential for diagnosis of indigestion. Most of the cases of indigestion are generally due to GERD and functional dyspepsia. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) produces heartburn, that is exacerbated by meals and may even awaken the patient in the night. Individuals with functional dyspepsia have epigastric pain as the main symptom. As most of the cases of indigestion are due to gastroesophageal reflux disease and functional dyspepsia, the general principle of diagnostic testing are directed at diagnosing gastroesophageal reflux disease and functional dyspepsia.
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Differential Diagnosis of Indigestion
Many other diseases cause symptoms of indigestion and it is important to find out the actual disease that is causing indigestion. Sometimes it becomes difficult to find out the actual disease which is causing indigestion and health state of the patient can not be improved much.
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The Global Burden of Diarrhea
Diarrhea is extremely common health problem all over the world, including in the developed countries. In the developing countries diarrhea is one of the leading cause of mortality and morbidity, especially among infants of below one year of age and children below five years. Diarrhea exerts an enormous toll in terms of mortality, morbidity, social inconvenience, loss of work and productivity, and utilization of medical resources of a nation. In developing countries acute infectious diarrhea is one of the common cause of mortality, especially among children below five years of age and estimated to cause 2-3 million deaths every year. Diarrhea is one of the common cases faced by doctors in developing countries.
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Indigestion and its Causes
Indigestion is a nonspecific term that covers a variety of upper abdominal complaints such nausea, vomiting, heartburn, regurgitation, dyspepsia (the presence of symptoms thought to originate in the gastro-duodenal region) etc. which affect patients’ health state in a negative way. Dyspepsia may be reported by some individuals as epigastric burning, gnawing discomfort in abdomen, or abdominal pain. Some individuals with dyspepsia experience a constellation of symptoms such as postprandial fullness (feeling of fullness of stomach for long time after meal), early satiety (an inability to complete a meal due to premature fullness), bloating, eructation or belching and anorexia.
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