#BlogchatterA2Z

#BlogchatterA2Z- “D”- “Diarrhea”- Causes, symptoms & homeopathic treatment!

Diarrhea: causes, symptoms & homeopathic treatment!
Diarrhea: cause, symptoms & homeopathic treatment

Hi everyone,  

It is day 4 of #BlogchatterA2Z and as “D”, I am talking about “Diarrhea”. Diarrhea is one of the common disease conditions that affect large number of populations worldwide every year.  

What is diarrhea? What are types? What are common causes and symptoms? How can homeopathy help in treating diarrhea symptoms? Read the post to know more.  

What is diarrhea?  

As per definition, Diarrhea is a condition of passing of thin and loose consistency stool 3 or more times in a day.   

Diarrhea is common disease condition.  as per scientific data, there are 1.7 to 5 billion cases of diarrhea occurs every year. Though diarrhea affects people of all age groups but it is more serious in case of children and old age people, and can results in life-threatening complications due to dehydration and lack of treatment.  

As per WHO, diarrheal disease is the second leading cause of death in children under five years old, and each year, diarrhea kills around 525,000 children under five year.  

But on brighter side, a significant number of cases can be prevented through maintaining of safe drinking water-food practices and using adequate sanitation measures.  

In young adults, most of the cases of diarrhea gets resolves on its own (within 2-3 days) and did not require any specific treatment, except good set of home care measures that includes maintenance of hydration level, rest and appropriate diet.  

Types of diarrhea 

There are mainly two types of diarrhea:  

  • Acute diarrhea 
  • Chronic diarrhea 

Acute diarrhea 

As the name suggested, acute diarrhea has sudden onset and intense symptoms. But this type of diarrheal symptoms has short duration and get resolved within 2-3 days. When acute and short-term diarrhea have a symptom of “Blood in stool”, it is called dysentery.  

Usually, the cause of acute diarrhea may be bacterial or viral infection. It is also called “Acute gastroenteritis” because of acute inflammation of gastro intestinal tract.  

Chronic diarrhea 

As the name suggested, it is chronic in nature and patient usually have a history of suffering from diarrheal symptoms 3 or more weeks. The cause of chronic diarrhea could be more serious than acute ones. And it could be result of a serious gastric or other systemic disorder. Chronic diarrhea cases require a proper diagnosis with lab tests and other screening measure like endoscopy or colonoscopy to find out the root cause of diarrheal disease.  

Symptoms  

Symptoms of diarrhea could range from mild to moderate and severe. And usually depends on underlying cause or disease. Main symptoms are:  

  • Passing of thin, watery consistency stool 3 or more times in a day  
  • Pain in abdomen  
  • Nausea, Vomiting and other signs of gastric discomfort like indigestion 
  • Weakness  
  • Loss of appetite 
  • Soreness and pain around rectal region  
  • Fever (if cause of diarrhea is any septic disease)  

Signs of dehydration (in severe cases) such as:  

  • Pale face  
  • Sunken eyes  
  • Extreme weakness  
  • Dark urine and quantity of urine also get reduced.  
  • Rapid heart rate  
  • Headache  
  • Dry skin  

Basic pathology of diarrhea

Here is an infographic to understand it.

diarrhoea pathology
Diarrhea pathology

Image source: Gutscharit.org.uk

Causes of diarrhea

Diarrhea can be caused by various reasons ranging from consumption of contaminated food to result of serious underlying gastric or other systemic diseases like hyperthyroidism.

Here are some common causes of diarrhea: 

  • Bacterial infection like E. coli is one of the most common cause of diarrhea.  
  • Viral infection like rotavirus infection (specially in young kids) is another common cause of diarrhea.  
  • Parasite infections life giardiasis also causes diarrhea.  
  • Associated with underlying gastric disease such as Chorn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.  
  • IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) is one of the common chronic disease that causes diarrhea.  
  • Overuse of laxatives also causes diarrhea 
  • As an associated symptom of hormonal disease (diabetes and hyperthyroidism)  
  • Side effect of medications. Certain antibiotics and antidepressant drugs may cause diarrhea as a side effect of medication. Diarrhea is also common among people who are undergoing cancer treatment and taking chemotherapy for their condition.  
  • Caught up while visit foreign country, called “Traveller’s diarrhea” 
  • “Nervous diarrhea”, as a result of nervous causes such as exam fear or before public speaking.  
  • Some type of gastric cancers also causes diarrhea as a prominent symptom.  

Diagnosis  

Diagnosis of acute diarrhea cases, usually made on the basis of presence of clinical symptoms and physical examination. In few cases, doctor performs some of the important tests like:  

  •  Stool test to know the type of infection (Bacterial or viral) 
  • Blood tests to rule out possibility of any systemic disease.  
  • Occasionally, colonoscopy (or endoscopy) to rule out other gastric causes that cause diarrhea.  

Chronic diarrheal cases require more sets of lab and screening tests (blood tests, ultra-sonography etc.) to know the root cause of diarrheal disease.  

Prevention  

  • Practice proper hand washing. Maintain good hygiene and sanitation practices in general.  
  • Maintenance of good food and water hygiene  
  • Avoid eating raw meat and other root vegetables without thorough washing  
  • Cook food with proper hygiene maintenance. 
  • Avoid eating outside food (where hygiene is not maintained properly)  

Read this post to know more about diarrhea prevention

Homeopathy treatment  

Before taking homeopathic treatment for treating diarrhea, here are few points that should be kept in mind.  

  • Homeopathy is only suitable for mild cases of diarrhea, where intensity of symptoms is mild and no signs of dehydration is present. Treating severe cases of diarrhea with homeopathy could prove life-threatening and result in more harm than good.  
  • In case of chronic diarrhea (where symptoms of prolonged duration but have reduced intensity), homeopathy could be a suitable treatment option. But before opting homeopathic treatment, it is important to have a clear diagnosis and lab testing for rule out the chances of other serious gastric or systemic disease.  
  • When there is a clear diagnosis of not having any serious gastric or systemic disease, homeopathy can be used as an effective treatment option to treat chronic diarrhea cases. When symptoms match perfectly, Patient get good relief.  

Homeopathic medicines for treating diarrhea 

Here is list of some common homeopathy remedies that works great in relieving diarrhea symptoms.  

Aloe socotrina 

Aloe socotrina 30
Aloe socotrina 30

Image source: distacart.com

Aleo is first most important and top-grade remedy for treating diarrhea. When there is a distinct feeling of insecurity in rectum with accidental passing of stool with passing of gas, aloe is the remedy to consider. diarrhea is accompanied by gas and rumbling-gurgling sounds in abdomen. In this, patient has looseness of sphincter ani muscle and there is sudden and continued desire to go to stool.  the diarrhea is worse in the morning and drive the person out of the bed. 

Dose: 30 c potency, 5-6 globules (or 2 drop) 3-4 times in a day. You may repeat frequently in acute condition.  

Arsenic album  

Arsenic Album 30

Image source: distacart.com

Arsenic album is second most important remedy for treating diarrhea that is causes by “Food poisoning”. Diarrhea is foul smelling and present with intense burning in rectum and gastro-intestinal tract. When along with diarrhea, there is severe weakness, restlessness, nausea and vomiting is present, arsenic gives best result. Patient is chilly and very sensitive to cold. All complaint gets aggravated (worse) by cold (cold drinks, cold application).  

Dose: 30 potency, 5-6 globules, 3-4 times in a day. You may repeat frequently in acute condition.  

Podophyllum 

podophyllum 30
Podophyllum 30

Image source: distacart.com

Podophyllum is an excellent remedy for treating “Summer diarrhea”.  When there is profuse and painless diarrhea present along with prolapse of rectum, podophyllum gives good results. The complaint gets worse by heat, movement, and after drinking and eating. It is also a good remedy for diarrhea during teething in infants.  

Dose: 30 c potency, 5-6 globules, 3-4 times a day. You can do frequent reptation in case of acute condition.  

Veratrum album  

Veratrum album 30
Veratrum Album 30

Image source: distacart.com

Veratrum album is another good remedy for treating diarrhea, when diarrhea is present with extreme coldness of body and fatigue, veratrum album gives best results.  

Dose: 30 c potency, 5-6 globules 3-4 times a day. Repeat frequently in case of acute condition.  

Croton tiglium 

Croton tig 30
Croton tiglium 30

Image source: distacart.com

When there is yellow, watery stool expelled with sudden explosion, croton tiglium gives best results. It is suitable for treating acute and chronic diarrhea, and also give good results for “Cholera infantum” (cholera in infants) too. The violent gush (gunshot diarrhea) of stool is key symptom of croton tiglium.  

Few other indicated remedies:  

Chamomilla: foul smelling diarrhea in infants with higher irritability 

Carbo veg: diarrhea in old age people with severe weakness 

Cinchona officinalis: diarrhea with gas in whole abdomen  

Homeopathic combination 

Bio chemic combination no.8  

Bio chemic combination no. 8

Image source: distacart.com

It contains calcarea phos, kali phos, natrum phos, ferrum phos, Natrum sulph and kali sulph. You can use this combination medicine with other indicated homeopathic medicine. It helps in reducing loose morning stool and also reduces other feeling of nausea, vomiting, bloating sensation and discomfort in upper abdomen.  

Dose: for adults, 4 tablets every three hours or four hours a day. Use half dose of adult dose for children.  

 So, these were some common homeopathic remedies for treating diarrhea.

What are your thoughts? Please share with me! 

This is all for now.  

As “E”, I will talk about “Ear pain and its homeopathic treatment”. Stay tuned to learn more! 

Read the previous posts of the series here: 

A: Acidity: causes, symptoms & homeopathic treatment  

B: baby colic : causes, symptoms & homeopathic treatment 

This post is a part of Blogchatter A2Z Challenge

Disclaimer: the post is written for educational purpose only. did not intend to cure, treat or diagnose any disease condition. always consult your doctor before making any significant changes to your medication or starting any new medication.

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