Diarrhea causes

Diarrhea Microchapters
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Classification Acute Diarrhea Chronic diarrhea
Differential Diagnosis

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Cafer Zorkun, M.D., Ph.D. [2]; M.Umer Tariq [3]

Causes

The principal cause of diarrhea stems from ingestion of unsafe drinking water (typically from admixture of raw sewage to water supplies); the occurrence is predominantly in lesser developed countries.

Causes of diarrhea can be infection, allergy, food intolerance, foodborne illness and/or extreme excesses of Vitamin C and/or magnesium and may be accompanied by abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Temporary diarrhea can also result from the ingestion of laxative medications or large quantities of certain foods like prunes with laxative properties. There are other conditions which involve some but not all of the symptoms of diarrhea, and so the formal medical definition of diarrhea involves defecation of more than 200 grams per day (although formal weighing of stools to determine a diagnosis is rarely actually carried out).

Diarrhea occurs when insufficient fluid is absorbed by the colon. As part of normal digestion, food is mixed with large amounts of water. The water is supplied, as needed, by the stomach and small intestine. The colon recovers this water, leaving the remaining material as a semisolid stool. If the colon is damaged or inflamed, however, absorption is inhibited, and watery stools result.

Diarrhea is most commonly caused by viral infections or bacterial toxins. In sanitary living conditions and with ample food and water available, an otherwise healthy patient typically recovers from the common viral infections in a few days and at most a week. However, for ill or malnourished individuals diarrhea can lead to severe dehydration and can become life-threatening without treatment.

Diarrhea can also be a symptom of more serious diseases, such as dysentery, Montezuma's Revenge, cholera, or botulism, and can also be indicative of a chronic syndrome such as Crohn's disease. Though appendicitis patients do not generally have diarrhea, it is a common symptom of a ruptured appendix. It is also an effect of severe radiation sickness.

Diarrhea can also be caused by dairy intake in those who are lactose intolerant.

Causes According to Duration

Acute Diarrhea

• Addison's Disease
• Adrenal insufficiency
• Appendicitis
• Bacterial:

  • Aeromonas
  • Campylobacter jejuni
  • Chlamydia
  • Clostridium Difficile
  • E.coli
  • Enterobacter
  • Klebsiella
  • Neisseria gonorrhea
  • Plesiomonas
  • Salmonella
  • Shigella
  • Staphylococcus aureus
  • Vibrio cholerae
  • Yersinia enterocolitica

• C-cell carcinoma
• Chronic inflammatory bowel disease (first manifestation)
• Colon cancer
• Drugs:

  • Abuse of laxatives
  • Alcohol
  • Antibiotics
  • Biguanides
  • Chemotherapeutics
  • Chemotherapy
  • Cholestyramin
  • Digitalis
  • Diuretics
  • Ergotamine
  • Hydralazine
  • Mushroom poisoning
  • Opiate withdrawal
  • Parasympathomimetics
  • Quinidine
  • Reserpine
  • Uremia
  • Warfarin

• Food:

  • Bacillus cereus
  • Clostridium perfringens
  • Staphylococcus aureus

• Food allergy
• Graft-host reaction after allogenic bone marrow transplantation
• Heavy metal intoxication
• HIV
• Hyperthyroidism
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
• Ischemic-hemorrhagic colitis
• Lactose intolerance
• Neoplasia
• Other hormone-producing tumor
• Parasites:

  • Cryptosporidium
  • Entamoeba histolytica
  • Giardia intestinalis
  • Hyperthyroidism

• Runner's diarrhea
• Traveler's diarrhea

  • Most commonly seen germs:

    • Aeromonas
    • Campylobacter jejuni
    • Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli
    • Protozoa
    • Rotavirus
    • Salmonella
    • Shigella

• Typhoid Fever
• Viral:

  • Adenovirus
  • Coxsackie virus
  • Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
  • Enteric cytopathic human orphan (ECHO) viruses
  • Influenza virus
  • Norwalk virus
  • Poliovirus
  • Rotavirus

Chronic Diarrhea

• Achylia
• Addison's Disease
• Amebiasis
• Amyloidosis
• Anxiety
• Autonomous neuropathy
• Bacterial gastroenteritis
• Bacterial toxins
• Behcet syndrome
• Bile acid malabsorption
• Biliary fistula
• Carcinoid syndrome
• Carcinoma of the pancreas
• Celiac Sprue
• Chologenic diarrhea
• Collagenous colitis
• Colitis after radiation therapy
• Colon cancer
• Crohn's Disease
• Cryptosporidiosis
• Diabetes Mellitus
• Diabetic enteropathy
• Diverticular disease
• Drugs:

  • Antacids
  • Antipholgistics
  • Anthraquinones
  • Castor oil
  • Lactulose
  • Mannitol
  • Prostaglandins
  • Sorbitol

• Dumping syndrome
• Enteropathogenic viruses
• Excess coffee, tea, coke
• Exudative diarrhea
• Fecal impaction
• Food allergy
• Gastric surgery/Billroth operation
• Gastrinoma
• Gastrocolic fistula
• Giardia
• Hyperthyroidism
• HIV
• Idiopathic lymphangiectasis
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease
• Intestinal atrophy (post-radiation therapy)
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
• Irritable colon
• Lymphocytic colitis
• Lymphomas
• Malabsorption
• Maldigestion
• Medullary thyroid carcinoma
• Mesenteric ischemia
• Motility disorders of gastrointestinal (GI) tract
• Neuroendocrine tumors
• Nontropical sprue
• Obstructive jaundice
• Parasites:

  • Ascariasis
  • Hookworm
  • Whipworm

• Pellagra
• Polyarteritis
• Polyposis
• Postileal resection
• Postvagotomy
• Proctitis
• Prostaglandins
• Radiation proctitis
• Rectal surgery
• Scleroderma
• Short bowel syndrome
• Tuberculosis
• Ulcerative colitis
• Unabsorbed dietary fat
• Vegetative lability
• Verner-Morrison Syndrome
• Villous adenoma
• Villous carcinoma
• Whipple's Disease
• Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome