Chronic diarrhea is a symptom that lasts more than 14 days. During this period, the patient passes more than 3 loose stools a day. Its causes can be many, ranging from quite mild, such as food allergies, to life-threatening, such as colon cancer. Find out what chronic diarrhea is, what its causes are and which diseases that cause it are life-threatening.

Chronic diarrhea , or chronic diarrhea , is a symptom of a digestive system disease that lasts over 14 days. During this period, the patient passes more than 3 loose stools a day. Usually, your stools contain substances that are indicative of chronic inflammation, such as mucus, pus and blood. However, the characteristic feature of chronic diarrhea is the presence of an excessive amount of poorly absorbed product in the defecation.

Chronic diarrhea: external causes

1. chronic diarrhea of ​​infectious aetiology

  • bacterial infections, caused by bacteria from the group:Salmonella ,Klebsiella , Aeromonas ,Campylobacter ,Clostridium difficile ,E. coli(colon bacilli),Plesiomonas ,Shigella sonneil(so-called bacterial dysentery ),Yersinia(Yersinia infection);
  • parasites:Lambliosis ,Cryptosporidium parvum ,Cyclospora, Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia, Microsporidium;
  • viral infections: rotaviruses (groups A, B, C), noroviruses, caliciviruses, adenoviruses, astroviruses;

Chronic diarrhea, caused by viruses and bacteria, is usually a consequence of incorrect treatment of acute diarrhea. As a result, chronic, infectious diarrhea occurs rarely.

2. other (non-infectious) factors causing chronic diarrhea

  • antibiotic therapy - neomycin (orally), ampicillin, tetracyclines;
  • certain medications, e.g. laxatives, antacids;
  • improper diet: overfeeding, long-term deficiency diets, e.g. fat-free diet, protein-free diet in children with exudative diathesis;
  • bad teamintestinal absorption, i.e. abnormalities in digestion and absorption of nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract, caused by:

- celiac disease (celiac disease) - digestive and intestinal absorption disorders related to the intolerance to gluten contained in cereals; - intolerance to milk (e.g. cow's milk); - sugar intolerance: lactose (which is contained in milk), sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, fructose;

  • thermal - too cold or too hot meal or drink;
  • partial or complete gastrectomy,
  • radiotherapy of the abdominal cavity and gastrointestinal tract;
  • emotional and mental factors, e.g. stress.

Chronic diarrhea: systemic causes

  • hereditary or congenital defects of the digestive tract:

- anatomical abnormalities: gastric torsion, pancreatic cystic cirrhosis as a result of cystic fibrosis, congenital obstruction of the biliary tract, duodenal atresia,

- inborn errors of metabolism (impaired transport of glucose and galactose, fats, amino acids, sodium, zinc, magnesium, chlorine)

- enzymatic defects of the organism, i.e. deficiency of intestinal enzymes (lipase, amylase, sucrase and m altase lactase).

  • colon diseases: ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, irritable bowel syndrome, colon cancer,
  • pancreatic diseases (e.g. chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic enzyme deficiencies, cystic fibrosis);
  • hormonal factors, e.g. hyperthyroidism;
  • biliary hepatic insufficiency,
  • immune conditions (weakened immune system ,e.g. immunoglobulin deficiencies, AIDS, autoimmune disease);
  • states after dysentery.

Types of chronic diarrhea

  • osmotic- occurs when the body is unable to absorb excessive amounts of substances from the intestine, which retain water and thus increase the volume of the stool. Therefore, osmotic diarrhea is the result of a poor diet, improper digestion and absorption of nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract (the so-called malabsorption syndrome); Usually, symptoms of diarrhea disappear after fasting.
  • secretory(secretory) - high-volume, watery stools are the result of a disturbance in the transport of water and electrolytes through the intestinal mucosa (secretion of large amounts of s alt and water into the intestine). The most common causes of it are staphylococci, E. coli bacteria or the abuse of laxatives.
  • exudative- cause of diarrheaexudative is inflammation caused by damage to the structure of the intestinal epithelium as a result of a disease process. Therefore, its characteristic feature is the presence of blood and mucus in the stool. It is most often indicative of cancer and ulcerative colitis.
  • fatty- is the result of improper digestion or absorption of fats in the digestive tract. A characteristic symptom of diarrhea is stool with a high fat content, i.e. the surface of the stool is shiny, gives off a characteristic putrid smell and it is difficult to rinse it with water from the surface on which it is located. The most common cause of fatty diarrhea is chronic pancreatitis (a disorder of the secretion of pancreatic enzymes involved in the digestion of fats).

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