What to do if an adult has diarrhea and watery stools

Diarrhea in adults is mainly caused by gastrointestinal dysfunction. For example, people will have diarrhea after eating uncooked food. Sometimes, eating food that is too cold or too spicy may irritate the stomach and intestines and cause gastrointestinal disorders, leading to diarrhea. If a person has diarrhea for a long time, a large amount of nutrients will be excreted from the body. At this time, more water and nutrition are needed. Let’s take a look at what to do if an adult has diarrhea and watery stools.

Due to the large amount of bowel movements, diarrhea patients suffer from severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. At this time, they must replenish a lot of water. They should drink more water. Potassium chloride, glucose, and sodium citrate rehydration salts are ideal choices because they can replenish the lost glucose and minerals in the body and regulate potassium, sodium electrolytes, and water and acid-base balance; carrot juice, apple juice, watermelon juice, etc. can not only replenish water, but also replenish essential vitamins, and are also good supplements. They are all good ways to prevent dehydration and collapse from diarrhea.

The most important thing in treating diarrhea is to prescribe the right medicine for the disease. Diarrhea can be divided into infectious and non-infectious. Infectious diarrhea is caused by pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, such as bacillary dysentery, bacterial food poisoning, viral enteritis, etc. Non-infectious diarrhea is common in colds, indigestion, gastrointestinal dysfunction, and systemic diseases such as hyperthyroidism, diabetes, and uremia. Infectious diarrhea is a manifestation of the body's self-protection. It can excrete some toxins, which is beneficial to the human body. If you blindly stop diarrhea, it will be detrimental to the outcome of the disease.

In principle, antidiarrheal drugs are only suitable for non-infectious diarrhea and are generally not used for infectious diarrhea, especially in the acute phase, when symptoms of inflammation and poisoning (such as high fever) are more obvious and there is a lot of blood and pus in the stool. Antidiarrheal drugs should be considered an absolute contraindication. In the recovery phase, when the condition has improved significantly, the stool does not contain pus and blood, and there is only a lot of water, antidiarrheal drugs can be taken for a short period of time. Biqi is used to treat acute and chronic diarrhea, has significant therapeutic effects, and has the effect of protecting the gastrointestinal mucosa.