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Chronic Diarrhea Causes
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There are many causes of chronic diarrhea commonly defined as diarrhea occurring for more than two weeks. On this page, I am going to look at what causes chronic diarrhea, a problem that has significant financial implications to the economy through days lost in work and a cost to the wider health care system too.So, what are the chronic diarrhea causes?
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
One of the single biggest causes of chronic diarrhea worldwide is the Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It is estimated that 1:4 people will develop this disorder in the western world at some point in their lives. It causes a wide spectrum of symptoms including abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation or a combination of the two. You can learn more about IBS by going to the what is Irritable Bowel Syndrome page.
Coeliac disease
Coeliac disease is a condition that affects up to 1 in 300 of us. It’s a disease that affects the small bowel giving rise to chronic, watery diarrhea in some sufferers. The chronic diarrhea causes symptoms including anaemia, abdominal pain, weight loss, tiredness and other systemic effects. It is caused by gluten, a protein in wheat, rye and barley that affects the “villi” of the small bowel where your nutrients are absorbed. It is this loss of villi that causes persistent diarrhea. It can be associated with other autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, thyroid disease, pernicious anaemia, Addisons disease, vitiligo and rheumatoid arthritis.
Inflammatory Bowel disease
The inflammatory bowel diseases are another big group that causes chronic diarrhea. The two main forms are Crohns disease and Ulcerative colitis. The diarrhea results from a chronically inflamed bowel, the cause of which is unclear. Symptoms depend on the extent of the disease and where the problem occurs. With Ulcerative colitis, the inflammation occurs in the colon or large bowel and can cause frequent, bloody diarrhea. Crohns disease can affect anywhere from the mouth to the anus and can equally cause diarrhea as well as other symptoms such as abdominal pain, weight loss, mouth ulceration and systemic problems such as rashes, joint pains and iritis (an eye condition).
Microscopic colitis is a microscopic inflammation of the bowel picked up when you have biopsies taken during a colonoscopy procedure. In 60% of cases it is self limiting, but chronic diarrhea can still be an issue in 40% of cases. Treatment for this is similar to the other forms of inflammatory bowel disease.
Bowel cancer
The 3rd main cancer worldwide and is clearly the most serious of chronic diarrhea causes. It is associated with other symptoms such as abdominal pain, rectal bleeding, night sweats, anorexia and weight loss.
Learn about colon cancer, one of the causes of chronic diarrhea. Go to the
colon cancer early symptoms
page now!
Surgical causes
Surgery on the bowel is another of the potential chronic diarrhea causes in two different ways. This can be either as a direct effect of the surgery on the bowel or through repopulation of the small bowel with bacteria that can promote diarrhea. This is called small bowel bacterial overgrowth and is a condition that I believe is under diagnosed in someone with IBS symptoms.
Lactose intolerance
Lactose intolerance is another one of the chronic diarrhea causes. The condition is said to be present in up to 75% of the worlds population to some degree. It is caused by inactive or inappropriate levels of lactase, the enzyme the digests lactose sugar in the small bowel. Lactose is a disaccharide sugar that is found in milk and milk products such as yoghurt, butter and cheese. The only treatment is avoidance in the diet. Because it is so common, alternative causes for persistent diarrhea should always be considered.
Drugs
There are many drugs that can cause chronic, persistent diarrhea – too numerous to list here! If you are taking medications and have diarrhea, it is vital that you discuss these with your doctor as this could be the underlying cause for your symptoms.
Chronic infections
Chronic infection can occur, particularly campylobacter and salmonella infection, but also infections such as chronic clostridium infection.
Pancreatic insufficiency
Pancreatic insufficiency is one of the causes of chronic diarrhea that can easily be missed. It has many causes, but results in fat malabsorption due to the lack of pancreatic lipase enzymes that digest fat.
Investigation of Persistent diarrhea
Investigations really depend on the history and examination of the individual and what the doctor feels are the most likely chronic diarrhea causes. Tests can be vast including simple blood tests such as coeliac antibody testing and stool tests to look for infection plus biochemical markers such as calprotectin for inflammatory bowel disease and faecal elastase for pancreatic insufficiency.
Other tests may include a lactose tolerance test, hydrogen breath testing for small bowel bacterial overgrowth and a colonoscopy procedure to look for evidence on inflammatory bowel disease and cancers.
Treatment of Persistent diarrhea
Again treatment depends on the underlying cause. Medications that reduce stool frequency such as codeine phosphate and Loperamide can be helpful. Dietary manipulation, particularly in lactose intolerance and coeliac disease is vital.
Pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy can be useful if pancreatic insufficiency is an issue and cholestyramine medicine for persistent diarrhea particularly in bile salt malabsorption conditions, but also in other chronic conditions such as IBS-D or diarrhea-predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
In small bowel bacterial overgrowth, pulsed antibiotic therapy and probiotic use may be helpful and drugs specifically designed for conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease.
Other Web Pages On This Site That May Interest You
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If you need online medical help about chronic diarrhea causes or anything else, why not visit my online medical health page. You will be able to book an appointment online to discuss your medical problems or ask for advice on anything that is worrying you, perhaps clarify drugs, ask for a second opinion and much more. Just go to ask a doctor online and book your appointment with me now!
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Manuka Honey
Learn about the health benefits of manuka honey which can sometimes help causes of chronic diarrhea. Just go to health benefits of manuka honey page now!
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Acai Berry
You’ve learnt about aloe vera benefits, now learn all about the health benefits of the acai berry by going to acai berry information page now!
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