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When it comes to diarrhea, every patient is different. Depending on what kind of symptoms the patient is having, there are multiple different types of tests that a physician can do. The number one test that most physicians do if a patient comes in with new onset diarrhea is stool studies in order to evaluate if there's any underlying infection or any infectious cause to the patient's diarrhea. Other possible studies, including blood tests to check for Celiac disease. Colonoscopies are a very common study which are done in anyone that has any type of alarm symptoms. What I mean by alarm symptoms is any type of bleeding, weight loss, loss of appetite, or chronic diarrhea that's not getting better. These are all some of the tools that we have in order to help evaluate what the cause of the diarrhea is and subsequently make a plan for the treatment.
When it comes to diarrhea, every patient is different. Depending on what kind of symptoms the patient is having, there are multiple different types of tests that a physician can do. The number one test that most physicians do if a patient comes in with new onset diarrhea is stool studies in order to evaluate if there's any underlying infection or any infectious cause to the patient's diarrhea. Other possible studies, including blood tests to check for Celiac disease. Colonoscopies are a very common study which are done in anyone that has any type of alarm symptoms. What I mean by alarm symptoms is any type of bleeding, weight loss, loss of appetite, or chronic diarrhea that's not getting better. These are all some of the tools that we have in order to help evaluate what the cause of the diarrhea is and subsequently make a plan for the treatment.
The common symptoms of diarrhea include a change in the form of the stool, which is more of a watery or loose stool. Other symptoms that occur include an increase in frequency or urgency, which means that a patient needs to run to the bathroom or has a feeling that they need to rush and have a bowel movement before they have an incontinent episode. Incontinence, which means the inability to actually hold a stool and having an accident is also a common symptom of diarrhea. A lot of patients with diarrhea also exhibits symptoms of bloating, cramping, and abdominal pain as well. Diarrheal symptoms can definitely be a symptom of something that's going significantly wrong with the internal GI system such as colon cancer or any other type of malignancy in the GI tract. Patients with pancreatic cancer, pancreatic insufficiency, small bowel disorders in which they have malabsorption or any type of gastric cancer or other gastrointestinal malignancies can definitely be first scene with a diagnosis of diarrhea. Diarrheal symptoms can be a prognostic finding for many other underlying disorders such as celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, microscopic colitis, or even malignancy. That's why if you do have any signs of chronic diarrhea, you should get evaluated by a physician.
If a patient comes in and they've had one or two days of diarrhea, this could just be acute viral gastroenteritis or a food poisoning episode or acute diarrhea that will pass on its own. If the diarrhea continues for a prolonged period of time, it is usually at that point that we start doing tests to see if it's something that needs to be treated. But most episodes of diarrhea that lasts within 24 hours and pass usually don't need a full workup and can be thought of to be secondary to an acute insult that your body has cleared. Diarrhea is a very common disorder. It can mean that you have many different possible diagnoses from autoimmune diagnoses all the way to a run-of-the-mill viral infection. If your diarrhea lasts for more than 48 hours or if you have any alarm signs associated with your diarrhea such as weight loss, bleeding, or any worsening of your symptoms, you should definitely see a physician in order to get evaluated and find out the exact cause of your diarrhea and get the proper treatment. So if you do have diarrhea that has lasted more than 24 to 48 hours, if you're having fevers, if there's any evidence of any bleeding with your diarrhea, if there's any cramping or significant abdominal pain, you definitely need to see a physician. And they are able to do stool samples, which means they're able to take a collection of your stool and send it for analysis. And that will let you know what bacteria or parasite is involved in which antibiotic or antiparasitic will improve. If the diarrhea lasts for a longer period of time, such as more than three or four days, it's at that point that you should definitely see a physician because you don't want to wait until it's become very severe and the patient is very dehydrated because then you can end up in a hospital setting.
Chronic diarrhea is a patient that has had diarrhea symptoms that have lasted more than six weeks. Then they fall into a category of chronic diarrhea. If it's less than six weeks, then we diagnose it as acute diarrhea.
Diarrhea is a change in bowel habits, in which you're stool goes from being a formed consistency to a watery consistency. And it's also associated with increased frequency. So any patient that has a change in the formation of the stool, as well as having more frequent stools throughout a day, can be diagnosed with diarrhea.
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