The 11 Types Of Diarrhea (classified And Explained)
Although in the first world it is not considered a very serious problem, the truth is that diarrhea is quite dangerous if it is not properly treated.
These clinical conditions can cause not only loss of fluids and electrolytes, but also organic problems such as abdominal pain, fatigue, and even hyponatremia.
can we talk about different types of diarrhea depending on what causes them, something we are going to delve into below.
Although in developed countries it is more of a lesser evil, in developing countries diarrhea is a real public health problem. When you have a diarrheal episode, you lose a lot of electrolytes and water, which can lead to dehydration, malnutrition and, in the case of boys and girls, stunted growth
Diarrhea is especially dangerous in childhood, attested to by the chilling data of being the second most common cause of death in children under 5 years of age worldwide, according to the WHO (World Health Organization).
Nearly 525,000 very young boys and girls die annually due to diarrhea of bacterial origin, cases many of which could have been avoided if the disease that caused them had been properly treated and a stable health infrastructure had been available. The WHO also indicates on its website on diarrhea that nearly 1.7 billion children suffer from clinical conditions of this type.
Having understood this, we can understand that diarrhea is not simply the sporadic temporary illness that more than one of us has suffered from eating something spoiled. In the Western world it is a problem with an easy solution, but outside of it, on many occasions, it can become a condition where life is in danger. Therefore, from this point on we are going to look in more depth at what types of diarrhea there are, how they occur and what effects they can have on the health of patients.
Diarrhea is defined as the appearance of pasty or liquid stools, passed three or more times a day for at least three days It is difficult to establish a uniform criterion to determine what is a case of diarrhea and what is not sometimes, since there is a lot of individual variability in terms of intestinal rhythm and motility.
However, pathological diarrhea is considered to be one in which the stools have a weight of 225 grams per day, with a water content greater than 70% of the total mass of the stool.
We have all had diarrhea and we know from experience that when you suffer from one of them you can lose a lot of water. But not only are fluids lost, but nutrients and electrolytes are also lost. In addition, diarrhea may be accompanied by clinical signs such as fever, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite and other gastrointestinal discomfort in addition to fatigue.
The main types of diarrhea
Depending on its severity We can talk about three types of diarrhea:
But beyond how serious the diarrhea is, It is possible to classify it according to its causes Next we are going to see the types of diarrhea based on the type of pathophysiological mechanism that produces them.
1. Exudative diarrhea
In exudative diarrhea, damage has occurred to the intestinal mucosa, which has caused alterations in the way nutrients are absorbed from food This type of diarrhea persists during fasting and is also accompanied by blood and pus in the stool.
This type of diarrhea is also known as inflammatory diarrhea, as it is usually the result of an infection. It can also be caused by pathologies not necessarily associated with a bacterial or viral infection, such as food allergies, celiac disease, Crohn’s disease and various types of colitis.
It usually happens that exudative diarrhea becomes chronic because the diseases that cause it are, in many cases, also chronic or with long-term effects. For inflammatory diarrhea to be considered chronic, the following symptoms must occur for a minimum of 14 days:
2. Secretory diarrhea
In secretory diarrhea, as its name indicates, There is an alteration related to the secretion of mucosa, either due to an increase in secretion or a decrease in its absorption
This type of diarrhea also persists with fasting. The loss of water is equivalent to that of sodium, and in addition the volume of stools produced can be greater than one liter per day.
What happens to the body when secretory diarrhea occurs is that there is an increase in the secretion of electrolytes (especially sodium, >70 mmol/liter) into the intestinal lumen. This substance drags water with it because the transport channels through the intestinal epithelium are altered.
Abdominal pain is generally not felt when this condition occurs, but the loss of bicarbonate with bowel movements can cause generalized metabolic acidosis which can cause fatigue and rapid breathing.
It is this type of diarrhea that most of us are accustomed to and is usually caused by pathogens. Almost 70% of clinical symptoms of secretory diarrhea have their origin in a virus (e.g., norovirus and rotavirus). The rest of the cases can be caused by infections with bacterial strains, such as Campylobacter (2.3%), Salmonella (1.8%), Shigella (1.1%) or Escherichia coli (0.4%). Bacteria are transmitted orally usually from contaminated food or unpurified water.
You may be interested: “The 12 types of nutrition and their characteristics”
3. Osmotic diarrhea
Osmotic diarrhea It is characterized by the presence of non-absorbable solutes, or that cannot be absorbed properly due to injury to the intestinal mucosa. These solutes are osmotically active causing fluid retention within the intestinal space and thus reducing water absorption. This means that the stools become more liquid.
Unlike exudative and secretory diarrhea, osmotic diarrhea does stop manifesting with fasting because it is totally linked to the patient’s diet.
In this type of diarrhea water loss is greater than sodium loss (70 mmol/liter), which can cause episodes of hypernatremia in the most severe cases, that is, a high concentration of sodium in the blood. As a consequence, the affected person feels very thirsty but, in addition, the central nervous system may be affected since the brain cells may shrink due to changes in sodium levels.
Osmotic diarrhea It is typical in disorders that prevent the digestion of certain foods either due to intolerance or due to other mechanisms, such as lactose or gluten intolerance.
For example, in the specific case of people with lactose intolerance, dairy products are not metabolized properly due to the absence of the enzyme lactase, which causes them to remain in the intestine and the accumulation of fluids in the intestine is altered. , also causing gas and abdominal distension.
Related article: “Basal metabolism: what it is, how it is measured and why it allows us to survive”
Diarrhea due to impaired intestinal motility It is due to systemic problems that, as its name suggests, alter the movement of the digestive tract It is not caused by food or infectious agents, but by some organic problem.
When food passes through the digestive tract too quickly, there is not enough time for nutrients and water to be absorbed, which can lead to very watery stools. It is common in chronic digestive diseases, such as irritable bowel syndrome.
You may be interested: “The 7 parts of the intestine: characteristics and functions”
Types of diarrhea according to the degree of dehydration
Although the four types of diarrhea that we have just seen could be considered the main ones, it is also true that there are other types of classifications. One of them is the one that classifies diarrhea according to the degree of dehydration that the affected person presents, which we will see briefly below.
1. No signs of dehydration
There is a loss of less than 3% of the body mass of the patient suffering from diarrhea There are no signs associated with dehydration.
2. Mild dehydration
In this case the patient has a loss of between 3 and 5% of body mass You are thirsty and your mouth is dry.
3. Moderate dehydration
There is a loss of 5 to 9% of body mass In addition to thirst and dry mouth, the patient may experience dark circles, less urine production, orthostatic hypertension, and momentary lower skin elasticity.
4. Severe dehydration
Silk a loss of more than 9% of body mass The first signs of hypovolemic shock begin to appear, that is, the heart is unable to pump blood and the organs begin to stop functioning.
