Diarrhea in a child and an adult: the causes and treatment, what to do

Causes of diarrhea

Diarrhea arises from different causes. Sometimes it's fear or sudden fright( "bear illness").

Often diarrhea appears as a result of poisoning, when the body throws out bad food.

In case of inflammation of the intestinal mucosa, when the peristalsis is accelerated, repeated discharge of the stool may also occur.

Fermentation and putrefaction in the intestines can cause intestinal distress. Clogging the stomach, as a random process, can lead to repeated diarrhea. In this case, such symptoms as nausea, vomiting, pain in the stomach and intestines, temperature increase will be noted.

In case of chronic diarrhea, it is necessary to consult an infectious disease doctor, with household, "home" diarrhea, you can resort to traditional medicine. However, be calm when the diarrhea is one-two-fold, if it is delayed and repeated the next day or more, it is better to consult a doctor, especially if it is a child.

First aid for diarrhea: what to do

The patient needs to be put in bed and prescribed hunger. If the stool does not have mucus and blood, then it can be allowed to drink slightly sweetened tea, kefir, mucous soups, crackers. Exclude from food fried, spicy dishes, vegetables, fruits, milk. The best treatment for diarrhea is hunger( as all animals do).

Treatment of diarrhea in a child up to a year

Find the cause

Identify the cause of diarrhea.

Perhaps recently there have been changes in the child's diet, for example, you transferred it from baby food to cow's milk or from breast milk to baby food, started to feed on new foods or gave too much, for example, juice?

If the baby has a thin, watery stool( usually without mucus and blood) and a red ring around the anus, and otherwise it does not seem to be sick, most likely, these are signs of intolerance to newly introduced foods.

Return to the old food and exclude or reduce the amount of product presumed to cause diarrhea. The chair should be normalized within a week.

And maybe your baby has a cold and he has a fever in addition to the liquid, mucous stool, a general malaise? If this is the case, skip to the next step.

Severity of diarrhea and dehydration

Determine the severity of diarrhea and dehydration.

Is your child still cheerful, with damp eyes, mouth and diaper?

Perhaps in this case you will only have to change his diapers more often and watch for further changes in the stool.

To ensure that diarrhea does not cause dehydration, weigh the baby daily at times when it can weigh the least( in the morning, before feeding, without diapers).

The basic principle is: there is no weight loss - there is no cause for concern, as long as you do not need to call a doctor. The degree and speed of weight loss determine the severity of dehydration. If the baby's weight remains unchanged, you may not worry, but a 5% weight loss( for example, a loss of 1 pound of weight in a 20-pound child) indicates the possibility of weak or moderate dehydration, so you need to see a doctor.

Rapid weight loss is more dangerous than gradual;usually while the children look seriously ill, which is not observed if they lose weight gradually. The loss of 10% of weight in a few days indicates severe dehydration, when you should immediately call a doctor.

If the baby's chair becomes more frequent, explosive, watery and becomes green, and the appearance of the child tells you that he is sick, but his eyes and mouth are still wet, go on to the next point.

Change the power of

Eliminate irritant food. If the child has vomiting, do not give him solid food, milk( except for breast milk), baby food. With a mild diarrhea without vomiting, eliminate all dairy products, juices and fatty foods.

If diarrhea is severe( watery, every 2 hours), exclude all foods, milk( except breastfeeding), baby food and juices for 12-24 hours( depending on the severity of diarrhea) and start oral rehydration - the next item.

Prevention of dehydration

If the child does not already receive breast milk, replace all food included in his diet with an oral electrolyte solution( "natural" or "pedialite" that can be bought without a prescription at the pharmacy.)

Ask your doctor what is the minimum andthe maximum amount of electrolyte solution is necessary for the baby. In such solutions, the ideal balance of electrolytes and water, so they can repair all the liquid lost during diarrhea. In addition, they contain a solution in the countDo not aggravate diarrhea( especially including rice syrup.)

Often and gradually drink the baby and let him suck the pieces of frozen fruit juice on the electrolyte solution. If the baby is fed from a bottle, replace half the usual amount of baby food with an oral solution of electrolytes and feed the baby in2 times more often. The minimum daily amount of solution needed for a child is 130 ml per 1 kg of weight.

If the baby gets a breast, feed him as needed, he will not only fill up the necessary liquid, but also calm down.

If he temporarily gives up breast, give him a solution of electrolytes. Even if he has vomiting, let him suck - maybe just a little slower and not from such a full chest. If the sucked milk was kept at the child at least 10-20 minutes, then most of it is already absorbed and the vomiting that has begun will not bring the child damage. Generally speaking, vomiting is in any case better than the so-called "dry vomiting".

Power Mode

Restore the normal power mode.

Based on the severity of diarrhea, the condition of the child and the doctor's advice, about 8 hours after the start of treatment, you can go to a half-diluted solution of electrolytes for baby food, 24 hours later - to normal baby food, and between 24 and 48 hours - to the old baby diet, continuing for several days to feed him often and in small portions.

Before the complete cessation of diarrhea, do not give the baby cow's milk, replacing it with yogurt.

During the recovery from an intestinal infection( from 1 to 6 weeks), a doctor can advise a lactose-free baby food on a soybean basis, since lactose intolerance is possible during the normalization of bowel activity.

If diarrhea returns when solid food is connected, slow down and return to a more sparing diet, such as rice, rice porridge, bananas. The basic rule: once the chair becomes firmer, you can return to "solid" food.

The intestinal function is established slowly, and diarrhea often remains for several more weeks.

The condition "the stool remains liquid and the baby healthy" can last for a month. If the diarrhea continues and especially if it is accompanied by abdominal pain and a bad weight gain, the doctor can direct the feces of the child for analysis to identify possible parasites, for example pinworms.

New in the treatment of infectious diarrhea in infants

New research has allowed a different approach to treatment. Remember the three main changes.

Use of an oral solution of electrolytes .Cancel all that was recommended before: gelatin, cola, ginger ale and sugar water. Use them is recognized as irrational because of the low salt content and high sugar content, which can enhance diarrhea. You can resort to them only if you could not get a solution( it's prudent to keep a bottle in your home).

Early onset of feeding provides the body with the right nutrients and can speed up the healing process. The American Pediatric Academy recommends the resumption of normal baby food after 1 day and a normal diet of the baby - after 2 days. Even the temporary use of the famous BRAT diet( bananas, rice porridge, apple sauce, butter-free toast) is needed only in rare cases.

Exclusion of juices .Juice may not be the best friend of the intestine. Many juices contain sorbitol-sugar, which is not digested in the intestines and plays the role of a sponge absorbing water from the intestinal mucosa and transferring it to a stool, which increases its wateryness and intensifies diarrhea. This is why plum juice is a laxative. Too much juice( especially pear, cherry and apple) can cause diarrhea, be a cause of abdominal pain and swelling in young children.

What not to do with diarrhea

Do not stop breastfeeding .Refusal of it is necessary only in rare cases, since mother's milk not only does not have irritating effect, but also has a therapeutic effect, it can be the only food that the child does not reject and tolerates well.

Avoid the boiled liquids , especially milk with sugar, because when boiling water evaporates, as a result, its solution becomes too concentrated and intensifies diarrhea.

Do not exclude food for more than 48 h .For recovery, your child needs food.

The use of exclusively fluids for feeding a baby can in itself provoke diarrhea, called stool fasting.

Drugs for diarrhea

The diarrhea is best treated with a replacement fluid , for example the oral solution of electrolytes described above.

Drugs in young children are rarely used. Remember that narcotic drugs used to treat diarrhea in adults are unsafe for children. Since such drugs stop diarrhea, slowing the work of the intestine, it can worsen the condition of the patient, the microbes and the infected liquid stagnate in the abdominal cavity, the possibility of their penetration into the bloodstream increases, where they can provoke serious diseases.

In addition, with this treatment stops manifestations of diarrhea, but the absorption of water intestines( internal diarrhea), which leads to latent dehydration, which is difficult to detect.

Diarrhea in a child can be a reaction to antibiotics : parents report that the acidophilic powder( powder) taken daily during antibiotic treatment reduces diarrhea. This is because the normal content of bacteria in the body is being restored, which antibiotics kill. Acidophilic powder lactobacillus bifidus is sold in pharmacies.

Diarrhea in a child older than one year

Improper diet

A common cause of diarrhea in children is the consumption of immature berries and fruits. Another reason may be that the child ate a lot of sweet - in this case, diarrhea arises from the fact that sugar, getting into the intestines, attracts water. The same happens when overeating.

First aid

The child is not allowed to eat for 6-12 hours, plenty of sweet tea every 30 minutes in small portions of 3 teaspoons. After the disappearance of signs of intestinal frustration, they are fed easily digestible food. You can give broths of dogrose( one tablespoon of dry hips, pour one cup of boiling water, boil in enameled dishes for 10 minutes, insist for an hour, then filter through gauze and let's drink).Later they switch to kefir and porridge( rice, semolina, buckwheat), potato and carrot puree, cottage cheese, eggs, boiled minced meat. Do not give peas, beans, cucumbers, beets, radish, sauerkraut, tangerines and oranges, grapes, pears, plums.

The following tools can be used to fasten the stool:

1. to drink warm rice decoction for one third of the cup every 2 hours. Prepare it this way: a teaspoon of rice pour 6 cups of water and simmer over low heat, strain through cheesecloth, cool;
2. drink one tablespoon( children of school age) or one teaspoon( preschool) 3 times daily before meals decoction of pomegranate peel : 1 teaspoon of dried pomegranate peel pour a glass of boiling water, boil 10-15 minutes,wrapped, 2 hours, filter through gauze.

Diarrhea with intestinal dysbiosis in children

Dysbacteriosis of the intestine is a violation of the balance between certain types of microorganisms that colonize the lumen of the intestine. Instead of microorganisms that predominate under normal conditions( belonging to the main flora, represented mainly by anaerobic bifidobacteria and bacteroides), opportunistic pathogens( for example, Escherichia) or pathogenic( proteus, causing putrefactive processes, or coccoid forms that cause purulent inflammation) develop,microorganisms.

Dysbacteriosis is often observed in children after acute intestinal infections, eating disorders, non-infectious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, irrational treatment with antibiotics or immunosuppressants.

For dysbiosis in young children, diarrhea, bloating due to the accumulation of gases, rumbling of the intestine are more common. In older children, on the contrary, there may be persistent constipation, periodic intestinal colic;complaints of a feeling of fullness and bursting in the abdomen, belching.

First aid

The child should be consulted by a doctor. It is desirable to make a bacteriological analysis of the intestinal flora.

With dysfunction of the intestine it is useful to drink broths of chamomile.4 tablespoons of dried flowers of chamomile pharmacy pour 1 one cup of boiling water, boil 10 minutes, strain;take 2-4 tablespoons of broth 3 times a day before meals and mint( 1 tablespoon of dried leaves of peppermint, pour 1 cup of boiling water, cook for 10 minutes, strain and take half a glass of broth in the morning and at night).

With rumbling and bloating( flatulence) it is good to give diluted pomegranate juice, activated charcoal( 1-2 g of activated carbon drink 3-4 times a day in the form of an aqueous suspension).It is necessary to limit the supply of carbohydrate food, especially containing refined sugars: jam, honey, cakes, cakes, pastries, etc.

In severe dysbacteriosis, the doctor prescribes bacterial( bifikol, colibacterin, lactobacterin, etc.) and enzyme( abomin, pancreatin, festaland others) drugs.

Caution: Diarrhea may occur after taking antibiotic ampicillin, iron preparations, phenothiazine and other medications.

Help: stop taking the medication and tell the doctor immediately. The specialist will determine the cause of diarrhea in the child and prescribe a comfortable treatment.

Diarrhea in adults

1. As a general background for all diarrhea, diet therapy is indicated. It is obligatory to plant feces for a disgroup. In view of the predominance of fermentation processes in diarrhea, courses, mainly protein diets( broths, meat, fish, cottage cheese, two-day kefir) are shown.
2. For infectious and invasive diarrhea, both in children and adults, specific therapy( antibiotics, sulfonamides, Acrychin, Emetine with a truffle, Enteroseptol, etc.)
3. Fast-acting fixing agents use purified chalk( calcium carbonate), calcium phosphate, Tanalbin, white clay, Dermatol.
4. In case of false urges and tenesms, appoint lukewarm enemas from chamomile infusion with 0.3 g of Antipyrine.
5. In dysbacteriosis, except for the exclusion of antibiotics, give Colibacterin( dry vaccine from strains of Escherichia coli) or Lactobacillin.
6. From pharmacy drugs prescribe Ftalazol 1 g - 3 times a day, Levomycetin 0.5 - 4 times a day, Tetracycline according to 2 tablets.2-3 times a day.

Folk remedies for diarrhea at home

Traditional medicine advises such home remedies:

Sorrel horse .Flowers and seeds of horse sorrel brew like tea, insist 8 hours, in the morning drink on an empty stomach instead of tea with sugar.

In the hot summer time of , young children of often suffer from a disorder of the stomach and intestines. The more difficult it is to cope with this disorder the more they are launched. Meanwhile, there is a simple remedy that is almost always at hand and within 1-2 days gives good results. It is necessary to take a teaspoon of good rice , pour it with 6 cups of water, put on a slow fire and boil. The resulting broth cool and in a warm form give the sick child one third of a cup every two hours. Broth through gauze, and use rice in cooking.

Take approximately 200 g walnuts , split them, remove the septums. Pour them 200 ml of alcohol and insist for 3 days. Take 3-4 times a day for 5-6 drops. As soon as diarrhea begins to pass, the number of drops decreases. This remedy is strong and can lead to constipation if overdosed.

For severe diarrhea in adults, takes half a teaspoon of crushed chicken stomach skin .To do this, carefully separate the hard skin of the chicken stomach, wash it, dry it in the sun, grind it. Take 1-2 times.

Make a weakly pink solution of limestone . Adults let's take a glass of 1 for diarrhea, for children - half the glass. One or two techniques are often enough to cure a patient. Along with the intake of potassium permanganate, it is recommended to make an enema from the same solution, especially to children. The remedy repeatedly saved infants from death, when no other medicines helped.

With ordinary diarrhea, the broth of blueberry berry helps a lot. Brew and drink like tea.

Periwinkle small . 1 a tablespoon of chopped leaves on a glass of water. Boil for 15-20 minutes, insist 1 hour, strain. Take one fourth of a glass 4 times a day.

Blood rhizomes of the .Prepare broth : 15 grams of crushed rhizomes for three glasses of water. Boil 10 minutes, strain. Take one fourth cup 3-4 times a day.

Broth of horse chestnut crust is used for diarrhea.20 g of crushed bark into a glass of boiling water. Bring to a boil, persist for 2 hours, strain. Drink 30-50 ml three times a day. Alder glue .With diarrhea applied in the form of a decoction: 15 g of crushed bark for 200 ml of water. Boil 10 minutes in a sealed container. Insist 2 hours, strain. Drink 1 tablespoon 4 times a day.

Common dogwood .A tablespoon of cornelian fruit pour a glass of boiling water and take the infusion during the day.

Cinquefoil erect ( calgan, uzak).Two tablespoons of chopped rhizomes boil in 500 ml of water for 5 minutes. Insist 2 hours, strain. Drink 50-100 ml 3-4 times a day.

Blackberry, Coumarica, Azhina .Dioscorides used a decoction of the leaves and roots of these plants for diarrhea.

Thyme ordinary .Apply in the form of hot infusion.5 teaspoons of chopped herbs pour a glass of boiling water, insist 40 minutes, strain. Drink one fourth cup four times a day. Veracon officinalis .It is used inside as a decoction. A tablespoon of raw materials, pour 150 ml of boiling water, insist for two hours, strain. Take 1 tablespoon 3-4 times a day.

Vodka with salt .An ancient folk remedy. For 200 ml of vodka - 1 tablespoon of salt. Drink immediately( for adults).

Potassium permanganate solution .In 100 ml of boiled water, add 2-3 crystals of potassium permanganate to make the liquid pale pink. Drink in the morning and in the evening.

Treatment with apples .Take 12 apples of medium size and every hour, even at night, only 12 times a day, give the patient 1 apple, peeled and grated. With such treatment, the patient should neither drink nor eat the whole day.

Broth of dried plums .Broth plum drink 4-5 times during the day.

Rye biscuits pour water and let it brew for 1 hour. Drink water from the biscuits during the day.

Diarrhea in a child due to dysbiosis?- Dr. Komarovsky

Doctor Komarovsky will express his opinion on whether there can be diarrhea in a child due to dysbiosis.

Liquid stool( diarrhea) during teething

The appearance of a loose stool( diarrhea) during teething is explained by strong salivation, because the child swallows a lot of saliva, and accelerates intestinal motility.

Characteristics of a loose stool on the background of teething:

1. stools are watery,
2. is not very frequent( up to 3 times per day),
3. lasts no more than 1-2 days,
4. without pain,
5. without pathological impurities( mucus, blood)
6. accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

In all cases, when a child appears frequent watery or bloody diarrhea( more than 3 times a day), characteristic of intestinal infection, you should show the child to the doctor.

Source: Iligov GN Official and traditional medicine. The most detailed encyclopedia.- Moscow: Izd-vo Eksmo, 2012.