Diarrhea and intestinal cramps

We often encounter diarrhea in our daily life. The most common cause is mild food poisoning. Especially in summer, food spoils faster. If we eat some stale food, we will have diarrhea and intestinal cramps. Of course, in addition to this reason, there are also some diseases that can cause diarrhea. What are these diseases? Let’s take a look at it below.

Diarrhea is a common symptom, commonly known as "diarrhea", which means that the frequency of bowel movements is significantly higher than the usual frequency, the stool is thin, the water content is increased, the daily stool volume exceeds 200g, or contains undigested food or pus, blood, or mucus. Diarrhea is often accompanied by symptoms such as the urge to defecate, anal discomfort, and incontinence. In a normal person, about 9L of liquid enters the gastrointestinal tract every day. Through the absorption of water by the intestine, the final water content in the feces is only about 100 to 200ml. If the amount of fluid entering the colon exceeds the colon's absorption capacity or (and) the colon's absorption capacity decreases, it will lead to an increase in the amount of water excreted in the feces, resulting in diarrhea. Clinically, diarrhea is divided into two categories: acute and chronic according to the duration of the disease. Acute diarrhea develops rapidly and lasts for 2 to 3 weeks, and is mostly caused by infection. Chronic diarrhea refers to recurrent diarrhea with a course of more than two months or an interval of 2 to 4 weeks. The cause of the disease is more complicated and may be caused by infectious or non-infectious factors.

Causes

1. Acute diarrhea

(1) Infections include intestinal infections caused by viruses (rotavirus, norovirus, coxsackievirus, echovirus, etc.), bacteria (Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Shigella, Shigella dysenteriae, Vibrio cholerae) or parasites (Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia).

(2) Poisoning: Food poisoning such as eating uncooked lentils, poisonous mushroom poisoning, puffer fish poisoning, heavy metal poisoning, pesticide poisoning, etc.

(3) Laxatives, choleretics, digitalis drugs, etc.

(4) Other diseases: acute exacerbation of ulcerative colitis, acute necrotizing enterocolitis, food allergy, etc.

2. Chronic diarrhea

The causes of chronic diarrhea are more complicated than those of acute diarrhea. Lesions of the intestinal mucosa itself, excessive bacterial growth in the small intestine, defects in intestinal transport function, insufficient digestive capacity, intestinal motility disorders, certain endocrine diseases and extraintestinal tumors may all lead to the occurrence of chronic diarrhea. Conditions that can cause chronic diarrhea include:

(1) Intestinal infectious diseases: ① Chronic amoebic dysentery; ② Chronic bacterial diseases; ③ Intestinal tuberculosis; ④ Giardiasis, schistosomiasis; ⑤ Intestinal candidiasis.

(2) Non-infectious intestinal inflammation: ① Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis); ② Radiation enteritis; ③ Ischemic colitis; ④ Diverticulitis; ⑤ Uremic enteritis.

(3) Tumors: ① Colorectal cancer; ② Colon adenomatosis (polyps); ③ Malignant lymphoma of the small intestine; ④ Amine precursor uptake decarboxylation cell tumor, gastrinoma, carcinoid, intestinal vasoactive intestinal polypeptide tumor, etc.

(4) Small intestinal malabsorption: ① Primary small intestinal malabsorption; ② Secondary small intestinal malabsorption.

(5) Intestinal motility diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome

(6) Gastric, hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases: ① Subtotal gastrectomy with gastrojejunostomy; ② Atrophic gastritis; ③ Chronic hepatitis; ④ Cirrhosis; ⑤ Chronic pancreatitis; ⑥ Chronic cholecystitis.

(7) Systemic diseases: ① Hyperthyroidism; ② Diabetes mellitus; ③ Chronic adrenocortical insufficiency; ④ Systemic lupus erythematosus; ⑤ Niacin deficiency; ⑥ Food and drug allergies.