How Diarrhea Affects the Body

Wondering how diarrhea affects the body? If you pass liquid stools more than three times in one day, you might have diarrhea. Diarrhea can be acute and short-lived, or it can be chronic and long-lasting. Acute diarrhea often clears up within three days.

Chronic diarrhea is dangerous because of the dehydration it causes. If you have long-term diarrhea, it is probably caused by a condition other than a bacterial infection, unless you do not clear up the infection, or parasites. When you have diarrhea, you may also have abdominal bloating, nausea and cramping.

Causes of Diarrhea

• Surgery: Surgeries that cause a change to the digestive system may cause a person to have diarrhea. The digestive system is disturbed in surgeries such as gall bladder surgery.
• Bacterial Infections: These infections enter the body through tainted food and water. Bacterial infections include salmonella, eshericia coli (E. coli), shigella and campylobacter.
• Parasites: These are microscopic organisms that live in food and water. These include giardia lamblia, entamoeba histolytica and cryptosporidium.
• Medications: Certain blood pressure medications, antibiotics and antacids might cause diarrhea if they contain magnesium.
• Food Intolerance: One of the most common food intolerances that causes diarrhea is lactose intolerance, an inability to properly digest dairy products. Sometimes food colorings and additives, such as MSG, also cause diarrhea.

Effects of Diarrhea on the Body
Diarrhea causes the body to use extra fluids. These fluids are needed to help the body function properly. This leads to dehydration, which, while dangerous for anyone, is particularly dangerous for small children and the elderly.

Signs of dehydration include thirst, fatigue, light-headedness, dark urine, infrequent urination, nausea and headaches. Signs of dehydration in children also include a fever of 101.4 degrees Fahrenheit and higher, listlessness, irritability, dry eyes when crying, absence of saliva, a loss of elasticity in the skin and sunken eyes or cheeks.

Treatment
When you have diarrhea, not only do you lose lots of important fluids the body needs, you also lose electrolytes. These fluids and electrolytes need to be replaced. Drinking additional water or getting subcutaneous IV fluids helps relieve the symptoms, and even prevents the symptoms in some cases, as the diarrhea runs its course.