Is prolonged diarrhea dangerous?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article is professionally consulted by BSCKI Le Huu Dong - Head of Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine, Vinmec Nha Trang International Hospital

Diarrhea is a common disease that affects anyone, at any age. In mild cases, the disease ends soon within 1-2 days. However, there is a worse case, that is, the patient has persistent diarrhea. Prolonged diarrhea has many potential problems that patients need to be aware of for proper treatment. This article will help you not only identify the symptoms of persistent diarrhea but also the causes and reasonable treatment.
1. How long is diarrhea? Diarrhea symptoms are generally manifested as the patient's loose stools, abdominal pain, especially the colon. If the disease is mild, the patient will have symptoms of bowel movements many times a day, lasting 1-2 days. On the other hand, persistent diarrhea is recorded when diarrhea symptoms appear for more than 14 days, divided into 3 types: acute diarrhea (referred to as acute diarrhea), subacute diarrhea and chronic diarrhea. For easy identification, we often divide them into two types: acute diarrhea and chronic diarrhea.
With acute diarrhea, the patient will have an illness lasting 2 to 3 weeks. As for chronic diarrhea, the duration of the illness will be longer. In other words, people with persistent diarrhea will experience a condition that recurs over a long period of time that cannot be cured by conventional methods without understanding the cause and correct treatment.
2. Causes of persistent diarrhea Causes of persistent diarrhea can be divided as follows:
No bowel lesions, diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). People with IBS often experience persistent and frequent diarrhea if they experience psychological problems such as anxiety, nervousness or fear. During colonoscopy and colonoscopy, the patient did not have any lesions. Patients may have loose, bloodless stools and always feel like they haven't gone out completely.
Injury to the colon When symptoms of persistent diarrhea appeared and colonoscopy was performed, the patient was diagnosed with "Chronic colitis". The case of chronic colitis is caused by an infection with bacteria, parasites or a problematic diet. These causes are explained more specifically as follows:
Patients infected with parasites Lamblia, Amoeba. There are also bacteria causing dysentery syndrome such as Shigella, Samonella can also be the cause of chronic colitis, leading to prolonged diarrhea. The common parasites that cause prolonged diarrhea are pinworms, roundworms, and intestinal flukes.
The patient has an unsafe diet. Occurrence of the disease can be caused by eating stale food or foods that damage or irritate the intestinal mucosa.
There is also another cause that we rarely pay attention to. That is the condition of malabsorption of sugar. When the body cannot absorb sugars such as lactose, glucose-galactose, fructose, it will easily lead to prolonged diarrhea. Or the body lacks enzymes such as sucrase-isomaltase, lactase... which is also the cause of prolonged diarrhea.

3. How to treat prolonged diarrhea Patients with prolonged diarrhea often feel bloated, dull pain in the lower abdomen. Dehydration, malnutrition and severe infections also occur, which are life-threatening. Therefore, when diarrhea persists, patients should see a doctor for thorough and proper treatment. Patients younger than 4 months of age need special attention: The principle of treatment for persistent diarrhea is to correct water disturbances first. Then treat the infection and according to the cause separately.
Treatment of persistent diarrhea is divided by doctors into two phases.
Treatment, initial treatment Doctors evaluate and rehydrate according to regimens B, C. Perform fluid rehydration with ORS (However, in some cases, patients who cannot absorb glucose need intravenous fluid rehydration until ORS response). More serious conditions will have more complicated initial treatment steps.
Specific treatment The doctor will prescribe infection treatment for patients with persistent diarrhea. Examine the patient's stool to determine the correct cause and use specific drugs to treat. For patients with prolonged diarrhea due to chronic colitis, commonly used drugs for treatment include
Use of intestinal antibiotics (Biceptol, Flagyl, Flagentyl,... and drugs to regulate bowel movements (Visceralgin). , Dobriat, Rekalat,...) Vitamin and mineral supplements for the treatment of prolonged diarrhea The substances that need to be supplemented such as folate, vitamin A, copper, iron, zinc, magnesium. through weight, body temperature, intake, number of diarrhea... to determine whether the patient meets the discharge criteria or not.
4. How to prevent prolonged diarrhea We should have a reasonable daily diet, ensure hygiene. “Eat cooked, drink boiled” in each meal and do not eat rancid food. Check food to avoid eating contaminated food by mistake (avian flu, blue-eared pig...). In addition, it should be noted not to eat too much sour fermented foods, soaked for a long time such as melons, tomatoes... For young children, they should be breastfed and vaccinated with the expanded immunization program as well as ensure food hygiene for children. Localities with residents suffering from acute diarrhea with signs of spreading need to take early and timely treatment measures.

Knowledge about persistent diarrhea, especially acute diarrhea, is very useful and practical. However, to prevent and treat diarrhea most effectively, ask for more advice from a specialist doctor! Do not forget to share this article with your friends and relatives to gain more knowledge about diarrhea and persistent diarrhea.
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