Diarrhea is one of the most common symptoms of the digestive tract that we all experience at some point in our lives. Diarrhea is scientifically defined as a bowel movement that is significantly more frequent than usual, with thin, watery stools, usually containing undigested food or pus, blood or mucus. Diarrhea is often accompanied by abdominal pain, a feeling of urgency to defecate, and a feeling of urgency. The direct cause of diarrhea is excessive intestinal peristalsis and reduced water absorption, resulting in the rush to pass the stool before it takes shape. From the most common diarrhea of bad stomach, it is mainly due to the ingestion of unclean food with multiplying pathogenic bacteria, which is found by the body to start the defense system and speed up the peristaltic movement to try to discharge these harmful toxic substances. Causes of diarrhea The pathogenesis of diarrhea is quite complex, some factors have mutual causation, from the common causes can be summarized in the following areas. Kinetic diarrhea: it refers to diarrhea caused by shortened residence time of chyme in the intestine due to hyperactive intestinal peristalsis, which is not fully absorbed, such as irritable bowel syndrome, hyperthyroidism, gastrointestinal dysfunction, etc. Intestinal inflammation: it can be due to some infectious diseases such as viral gastroenteritis, bacterial gastroenteritis, intestinal tuberculosis, etc.; it can also be some non-infectious diseases: ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, tumor ulceration, etc. can increase inflammatory exudates and cause diarrhea, and diarrhea caused by some gastrointestinal endocrine tumors such as gastrinoma also belongs to secretory diarrhea. Osmotic diarrhea: It is caused by the increase of osmotic pressure of intestinal contents, which hinders the absorption of water in the intestine. Taking laxatives such as salt laxatives, lactulose, mannitol and other laxatives is this principle. Some people have diarrhea when they drink milk, also for this reason, milk contains lactose, they can not digest lactose, forming intestinal hyperosmolarity, just like drinking laxatives. Also poor digestion can occur this type of diarrhea: due to chronic pancreatitis, chronic atrophic gastritis, post-gastrectomy and other diseases gastric juice, bile, pancreatic enzymes and other digestive juices secretion is reduced, food can not be fully digested resulting in hyperosmolarity in the intestine taking away a lot of water to the colon diarrhea occurs. Others: caused by reduced absorption area of intestinal mucosa or absorption disorders, such as after intestinal surgery, malabsorption syndrome, pediatric celiac disease, etc. Although diarrhea has the function of protecting the body, it is harmful if the diarrhea is very serious or overkill, and if the diarrhea cannot be stopped, especially in children, who are most prone to dehydration due to diarrhea because the immune system and intestinal regulation are not well developed. Mild to moderate dehydration can be treated with oral rehydration salts to replenish water and electrolytes. Prolonged diarrhea, on the other hand, can also lead to malnutrition. If diarrhea is accompanied by red or dark red blood or tarry black stools, be especially vigilant as this type of diarrhea is caused by gastrointestinal bleeding, which can cause dizziness and even shock if the amount of bleeding is large, and you should get to a doctor promptly. Likewise, if diarrhea is accompanied by fever, abdominal pain that does not resolve, severe vomiting, jaundice, and weakness, you should also be alert to the fact that diarrhea in these cases is often not functional but has a cause that requires detection and treatment. Some common misconceptions about diarrhea Antidiarrheal medication: Many people use antidiarrheal medication as a matter of course when they have diarrhea, trying to end it immediately, not knowing that such a practice is a way to cover up the condition and delay treatment. If diarrhea occurs because of infection, at this time diarrhea is a means of defense of the body, as soon as possible to expel toxic and harmful substances, in this case eating anti-diarrheal drugs is laborious and unpleasant. Antibiotics: Another common misconception is that when you have diarrhea, you go to the pharmacy and buy antibiotics such as “haloperidol”, thinking that diarrhea is caused by bacteria and that it is “safer” to use antibiotics to kill bacteria. In fact, our stomach acid can kill most bacteria, and there are normal flora in the intestinal tract can resist the reproduction of foreign bacteria, generally speaking, diarrhea after eating unclean food is not caused by the bacteria themselves, but the toxins produced by these bacteria. Antibiotics themselves are designed to assist the body in killing bacteria when resistance is weak, but they are not useful for toxins produced by bacteria, so the use of antibiotics is inappropriate in most cases of diarrhea, and the long-term indiscriminate use of antibiotics will disrupt the balance of the intestinal flora, which will lead to stubborn diarrhea. There are many causes of diarrhea, and we hope that patients with diarrhea will find the right cause and prescribe the right medicine, rather than blindly treating them. If you cannot tell what causes diarrhea and what type of diarrhea it is, you should go to a regular hospital for examination. Using antibiotics and antidiarrheal drugs without authorization may not be effective and may be a waste of money, but the greatest harm is also the harm caused by the abuse of drugs and the delay of the disease.