Symptom: Diarrhea
Diarrhea: Loose, soft, or watery stool.
Introduction: This page examines a list of conditions causing diarrhea. Much more detailed information is available in the analysis of diarrhea as a disease.
Diarrhea is a very common symptom. Everyone is familiar with a sudden bout of acute diarrhea. Although many people assume sudden diarrhea is "something you ate" (i.e. food poisoning), it is commonly caused by infectious diarrhea (usually a gastrointestinal virus) and also parasitic conditions such as giardia or crypto.
There are also many other possible causes of diarrhea. Surprisingly, even constipation or fecal impaction can cause diarrhea or fecal incontinence, as only watery feces passes around the blockage. Diarrhea can indicate a serious condition and can itself be potentially serious if it leads to dehydration. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about any diarrhea or related symptoms.
Chronic diarrhea refers in medical terms to repeated bouts of diarrhea over a prolonged period, rather than the common usage of "chronic diarrhea" to mean severe diarrhea. Chronic diarrhea is a symptom that can also indicate several serious medical conditions.
It is important to distinguish true "diarrhea" (various degrees of softness of stool) from fecal incontinence, which is an inability to control or prevent bowel motions. Some people will say "diarrhea" when they are really talking about fecal incontinence. In many cases of acute diarrhea, diarrhea will cause (temporary) fecal incontinence, but sometimes they are entirely different issues.
More details about diarrhea are available in the discussion of diarrhea as a disease.
Detailed cause information for symptom: Diarrhea:
Medical articles on symptoms: These general medical articles may be of interest:
- Symptoms of the Silent Killer Diseases
- Symptoms and Medical Malpractice
- Medical mistakes and their rates, causes and prevention
- Deaths and sudden death
Types of Diarrhea: bloody diarrhea (9), watery stool (15), loose stool (10), fecal urgency (3)
Symptoms related to Diarrhea: constipation (45), stool changes (173), rectal bleeding (35), watery stool (15), soft stool
Diarrhea type of: Digestive symptoms (397), Abdominal symptoms (272), Bowel problems (165), Bowel movements (155), Stool symptoms (173), Bowel incontinence (131)
Symptoms: symptom center, symptom groups, symptom descriptions
Possible causes of symptom: Diarrhea: The following medical conditions are some of the possible causes of Diarrhea as a symptom. There are likely to be other possible causes, so ask your doctor about your symptoms.
- Some common causes of acute diarrhea:
- Infectious diarrhea
- Gastrointestinal virus
- Traveler's diarrhea
- Food poisoning
- Parasitic infection
- Giardia
- Crypto
- Simple reasons for diarrhea include:
- Some common reasons for diarrhea in infants include:
- Overfeeding
- Milk sensitivity
- Digestive infection
- Ear infection
- Throat infection (see Sore throat)
- Other illness
- Various other causes of diarrhea as mentioned on this list
- Some common reasons for acute diarrhea include:
- Infectious diarrhea
- Gastroenteritis
- Viral gastroenteritis
- Traveler's diarrhea
- Bacterial bowel infection
- Parasitic bowel infection
- Food poisoning
- Amebic dysentery
- Bacillary dysentery
- Colitis
- Food poisoning - usually causing acute diarrhea rather than chronic diarrhea
- Some digestive infections causing acute diarrhea:
- Infectious diarrhea
- Gastroenteritis
- Viral gastroenteritis
- Traveler's diarrhea
- Rotavirus - common cause of acute childhood diarrhea
- Bacterial bowel infection
- Parasitic bowel infection
- Giardia lamblia
- Entamoeba histolytica
- Cryptosporidium
- Trichinosis
- Dysentery
- Bacillary dysentery
- Astrovirus
- Adenoviruses
- Small round structured virus
- Staphylococcus aureus
- Campylobacter
- Salmonella
- Shigella
- E coli
- Vibrio cholera
- Vibrio parahemolyticus
- Yersinia enterocolitica
- Bacillus cereus
- Botulism
- Clostridium perfringens
- Clostridium difficile
- CMV - mainly if AIDS or immune compromise
- Microsporidia - mainly if AIDS or immune compromise
- Rectal conditions
- Constipation - a blockage can cause only watery feces output (overflow diarrhea)
- Fecal impaction
- Digestive disorders that may cause chronic diarrhea include:
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Crohn's disease
- Ulcerative colitis
- Celiac disease
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Diabetic Diarrhea
- Food intolerance
- Lactose intolerance
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Celiac disease
- Sprue
- Ulcerative colitis
- Lactase deficiency
- Food allergy
- Malabsorption disorders
- Small intestine disorder
- Small intestine resection
- Pancreas disorder
- Bowel cancer
- AIDS
- AIDS-related diarrhea
- AIDS enteropathy
- Bowel cancer
- Cystic fibrosis
- Diverticular disease
- Infections
- Psychological disorders - some psychological disorders may cause diarrhea:
- Anxiety disorders - some may cause diarrhea.
- Generalized anxiety disorders
- Panic attacks
- Panic disorder
- Other possible causes of chronic diarrhea include:
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Fecal incontinence - may appear like diarrhea although strictly speaking it is not actually diarrhea.
- Stomach surgery
- Gastrectomy
- Gall bladder removal surgery
- Thyroid disorder
- Hyperthyroidism - may cause continuous or chronic diarrhea.
- Thyrotoxicosis
- Pancreatic disorder
- Chronic pancreatitis
- Carcinoid syndrome
- Chronic lung disease
- Radiation therapy
- Diabetes
- Diabetic diarrhea
- Chemotherapy
- Kwashiorkor
- VIPomas
- Verner-Morrison syndrome
- Certain medications
- Some causes of green diarrhea (green stool) include:
- Salmonella - can cause greenish stool (usually diarrhea)
- Giardia - can cause greenish stool (usually diarrhea)
- Some possible causes of bloody diarrhea include:
- Gastroenteritis
- Regional enteritis
- Colitis
- Rectal bleeding (type of Gastrointestinal bleeding)
- Anal bleeding (see Rectal bleeding)
- Acute digestive infection
- Chronic digestive infection
- Acute food poisoning
- Campylobacter food poisoning
- Salmonella food poisoning
- Shigella food poisoning
- E-coli food poisoning
- Entamoeba histolytica
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Ulcerative colitis
- Crohn's disease
- Celiac
- Ichemic colitis
- Diverticulitis
- Colorectal cancer
- CMV - with AIDS or immune compromise
- See also causes of bloody diarrhea and causes of rectal bleeding
- See also causes of diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, dark stool, blood in stool, or stool color changes
Medications or substances causing Diarrhea: The following drugs, medications, substances or toxins are some of the possible causes of Diarrhea as a symptom. This list is incomplete and various other drugs or substances may cause your symptoms. Always advise your doctor of any medications or treatments you are using, including prescription, over-the-counter, supplements, herbal or alternative treatments.
- Laxatives
- Laxative abuse
- Antibiotics - diarrhea is common because antibiotics kill off the "good" microbes in the digestive tract.
Conditions listing symptoms: Diarrhea: The following list of conditions have 'Diarrhea' or similar listed as a symptom in our database. This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause of any symptom.
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Conditions listing complications: Diarrhea: The following list of conditions have 'Diarrhea' or similar listed as a complication in our database. The distinction between a symptom and complication is not always clear, and conditions mentioning this symptom as a complication may also be relevant. This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause of any symptom.
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Related medical articles for Diarrhea:
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