During diarrhea, the individual feels the urge to rush to the loo several times a day. Their stools may become watery and loose due to the persistent bowel movement, and they experience stomach cramping which causes them to run to the toilet to defecate more than three times a day. This might lead to severe dehydration among such individuals. It potentiates the need for treatment. But for proper treatment and prevention, one needs to find out why they are experiencing such an issue with their digestive system.
Top Reasons For Diarrhea
There can be various factors responsible for leading to diarrhea and its related symptoms. Let us have a look at them one by one:
You might have caught an infection.
One of the most common contributors to diarrhea is stomach flu or intestinal flu, which happens when your body gets exposed to infectious bacteria, parasites, or pathogens. These infectious microbes find their way to your body through contaminated food or beverages. They are responsible for causing food poisoning and this is why the digestive system of an individual might function inappropriately, thereby causing persistent bowel movements.
The microbes enter the host body and irritate the stomach as well as intestinal linings, and in turn, cause inflammation. The individual tends to lose body fluids excessively along with electrolytes, which leads to electrolytic imbalance, leading to dizziness, vomiting, nausea, fatigue, and fever.
The microbes can be of different types such as viruses, bacteria, parasites, and pathogens. The most probable way for them to enter the host body is through food or beverage. This is why one must take utter care while choosing their meals. Food that is contaminated with such infectious pathogens can harm your health, so prioritize food sanitization.
Viral infection can be the cause.
Viral gastroenteritis is the term given for stomach or intestinal infection which gives rise to vomiting and diarrhea. Infectious viruses such as norovirus, rotavirus, adenovirus, etc. can affect your digestive functioning and cause stomach flu or intestinal flu. This type of infection can spread when a healthy individual comes into contact with the vomiting or stools of the infected individual.
The viruses can get transferred to the host body through contaminated water or food. This can raise the health risk among infants and older adults, as the consequences can even be deadly. Therefore, it is necessary to take care of personal hygiene, wash your hands thoroughly and often, and keep your environment clean.
Malabsorption can contribute to diarrhea.
An individual experiencing malabsorption may have difficulty in the absorption of nutrients from the digestive tract. When the food particles enter the stomach, the lining of the stomach releases certain chemicals or enzymes that help in the breakdown of the food particles.
The food then gets passed on to the small intestines for metabolization or absorption of essential nutrients in the body. But due to malabsorption, the metabolization process does not happen properly, which affects the absorption of nutrients. As a result, the body gets deprived of essential nutrients.
Lack of proper absorption causes the nutrients to get thrown out during excretion. The body tries to prevent the loss of nutrients and to enhance the breakdown of food particles, it conducts persistent bowel movements, which leads to diarrhea. It is one of the side effects of malabsorption.
Your body might be intolerant to certain foods.
Certain foods tend to irritate your digestive system function. Usually, individuals may experience this difficulty because of spicy foods, oily foods, or dairy products. Such foods can be common culprits of diarrhea. They can give rise to stomach cramps, gas, or bloating problems in addition to diarrhea. Some individuals may even develop some allergic reaction to such kinds of foods which can cause itchy skin, hives, rashes, and congestion.
It might be a side effect of some medication.
Some medications can affect the function of your digestive system by drawing more water into the gut and causing the contraction of your intestinal walls. Usually, medications that are laxatives cause such a problem. In case you are consuming antibiotics, antacids, antidepressants, proton pump inhibitors, and chemotherapy medicines, then you might develop diarrhea as a side effect.
A recent surgery can be a reason.
In case you had abdominal or intestinal surgery, or got your gall bladder removed, then you are highly likely to experience diarrhea. The surgery can impact the digestive system, due to which the individual might develop some issues with digestion. This issue might persist for a few days and disappear as the condition of the individual improves and the health gets restored.
These can be the topmost reasons why an individual develops diarrhea and its symptoms. This issue is quite common. It remains for a few days and then the digestive process bounces back to its normal functioning. In case diarrhea persists for more than two days and you do not feel any improvement, then see your doctor. It is better to seek treatment and prevent the condition from getting worse.
The doctor will suggest some medications and if the condition is severe, they might even ask you to get some tests done, which shall help them with the diagnosis. Based on the test report, they may suggest some treatment suitable for your condition.
Lastly, just make sure you stay hydrated, as diarrhea causes dehydration. Also, do not consume heavy, oily, or fatty meals for a few days. Eat low-fiber, low-sugar, and less oily foods. Boiled potato, banana, yogurt, white rice, bread, toast, oatmeal, eggs, broth, etc. would make a safe choice during this condition.