What kind of stool should an adult have? Normal stool and its changes
The baby's chair is one of the the most important indicators health. Already in the maternity hospital, during the rounds, doctors always ask mothers whether the baby has pooped. How and how much the child poops will continue to be of interest to local pediatricians and nurses– during home visits and during examinations in the clinic. In this article we will consider everything about the stool of infants, since this is an extremely important component of the life of young children, and we will consider not only the stool of children who are on breastfeeding, but also those who receive artificial nutrition.
Why is it so important to pay attention to how your baby poops? The frequency of bowel movements and the main characteristics of stool (quantity, color, presence/absence of impurities, consistency, smell) make it possible to assess, first of all, the functioning of the child’s gastrointestinal tract. In addition, they can be used to draw conclusions about the baby’s nutrition (including whether he has enough breast milk); changes in stool characteristics may indicate the presence of diseases in other organs and systems. Of no small importance is the fact that defecation in children occurs regularly (usually daily), most of the properties of feces can be easily assessed visually (during examination), and therefore, for attentive parents, any changes in stool do not go unnoticed.
But what to do if the regularity or quality of stool changes: call a doctor, treat it yourself, or don’t worry at all - everything will go away on its own? How should a baby normally poop, and how does the stool change? different periods his life?
About the norm and its variations
The frequency of stool in infants varies from 10-12 times a day to 1 time every 4-5 days.Norm is a relative concept. I’m always surprised when I hear “a baby should poop 3-4 times (2-5 or 1 or 10 times, it doesn’t matter) a day with mush.” yellow color" Remember, your child does not owe anything to anyone. Every baby is an individual from birth. How he will have bowel movements depends on many factors - and on the degree of maturity of his digestive system, and on the type of feeding, and even on the type of delivery, and on concomitant pathology, and for many other reasons. The main guidelines for determining individual norm are exactly for your baby wellness child, regularity, painlessness of bowel movements and the absence of pathological impurities in the stool. Therefore, below I will give not only averaged normal indicators, but also extreme values of the norm and its variants, depending on the influence of various factors.
Frequency of bowel movements
After the passage of meconium (original stool of a viscous consistency, brown or black-green color), from 2-3 days the child experiences transitional stool - dark green or yellow-green, semi-liquid. From 4-5 days of life, a newborn establishes a certain rhythm of bowel movements. The frequency of bowel movements varies within quite significant limits: from 1 time every 1-2 days to 10-12 times a day. Most babies poop during or immediately after eating - after every feeding (or almost every one). But stool once every 2 days will also be a variant of the norm - provided that it is a regular stool (occurs every two days), and the act of defecation itself does not cause anxiety or pain to the child (the baby does not scream, but only grunts slightly, feces pass easily , no excessive straining).
As the child grows, he begins to poop less often: if during the newborn period he had stool on average 8-10 times, then by 2-3 months of life the baby poops 3-6 times a day, at 6 months - 2-3 times, and by year – 1-2 times a day. If, from the first days of life, the baby pooped once a day, then usually this frequency remains the same in the future, only the consistency changes (the stool gradually becomes formed from mushy).
Amount of feces
The amount of feces is directly related to the amount of food consumed by the child. In the first month of life, the child poops very little - about 5 g at a time (15-20 g per day), by 6 months - about 40-50 g, by one year - 100-200 g per day.
Stool consistency
The norm for newborn babies is a soft, mushy consistency. But even here, fluctuations within the normal range are quite acceptable - from liquid to fairly thick gruel. Ideally, the stool is homogeneous, evenly smeared, but it may be liquid with lumps (if a child pooped in a diaper, the liquid component is absorbed, slightly staining the surface, and a small number of small lumps may remain on top).
How older child, the more dense his stool becomes, representing a thick mush by six months, and by one year it becomes practically formed, but at the same time quite soft and plastic.
Color
Yellow, golden yellow, dark yellow, yellow-green, yellow with white lumps, yellow-brown, green - each of these colors will be normal for a newborn's stool. After breastfeeding ends, the stool becomes darker and gradually turns brown.
Green feces
Please note that greenish, swamp green, yellow green color a – variants of the norm, and the green color of stool is due to the presence of bilirubin and (or) biliverdin in it. Bilirubin can be excreted in feces for up to 6-9 months, that is, a greenish coloration of the stool during this period age period quite normal. In newborn babies, the transition from yellow to green stool and back is especially noticeable during physiological jaundice when maternal hemoglobin breaks down and bilirubin is actively released. But in the subsequent days and months of life, until the full formation intestinal microflora, the presence of bilirubin in the stool is acceptable, which gives the stool a green color.
It is also quite normal for the stool to be initially yellow in color, but after a while it “turns green” - this means that the stool contains a certain amount of bilirubin, which is initially invisible, but upon contact with air it oxidizes and gives the stool a green color.
On the other hand, if the baby (excluding a child with) has never had green stool before, and suddenly feces turn green or streaked with green, it is more likely that either functional disorder digestion (due to overfeeding, introduction of complementary foods, etc.), or lack of milk in the mother, or some kind of disease in the child ( intestinal infection, and etc.).
Smell
In an infant who is on natural feeding, the stool has a peculiar, slightly sour smell. In artificial babies, the feces acquire an unpleasant, putrid or rotten odor.
Impurities
In general, any impurities in the stool - undigested food particles and other inclusions, blood, greens, mucus, pus - are considered pathological. But the neonatal period and infancy– exceptional periods, here even pathological impurities may turn out to be quite normal. We have already talked about greenery and found out why green can (although not always) be a variant of the norm. Let us now look at other impurities in the child’s stool.
Normally, a baby may have the following impurities in their stool:
White lumps– are caused by the immaturity of the baby’s digestive system and enzymes, which is why the baby does not fully absorb milk (especially when overfed). Provided the child is in satisfactory health and has normal weight gain, these inclusions can be considered normal.
Undigested food particles– appear after the introduction of complementary foods and are explained by the same physiological immaturity of the gastrointestinal tract. Usually the stool returns to normal within a week; if during this time the baby’s stool character does not return to normal, complementary feeding is most likely introduced too early and the baby is not yet ready for it.
Slime– mucus is constantly present in the intestines and performs protective function. Her appearance in large quantities ah in breastfed children - a variant of the norm.
What impurities should not be in a baby’s stool:
- pus;
- blood.
Their presence - dangerous symptom, and if even small amounts of pus or blood appear, you should consult a doctor immediately.
Changes in stool depending on the child’s nutrition
Breastfed baby's chair
An excess of carbohydrates in the diet of a nursing mother will lead to increased fermentation processes in the baby’s intestines, intestinal colic, rumbling, frequent, liquid, foamy stool. The nutrition of a breastfed baby and the way the mother eats will determine the baby's stool. If the mother follows the basic nutritional rules for nursing women, dietary restrictions are excessive fatty foods and sweets, the baby’s stool usually meets all normal criteria - yellowish color, mushy, without impurities, regular, homogeneous. If there is an excess of fat in a woman’s menu breast milk also becomes fattier, it becomes more difficult to digest, and therefore the baby may experience inclusions of white lumps in the feces. A diet rich in easily digestible carbohydrates often leads to increased fermentation processes in the child’s intestines, and is accompanied by rapid, loose, sometimes even foamy stools, accompanied by rumbling, bloating and intestinal colic. At severe bloating Instead of loose stools, constipation is possible.
Certain foods in the diet of a nursing mother can cause diarrhea in the baby, which manifests itself not only in the form of diarrhea, but also in the form of changes in stool - it becomes liquid, with mucus.
When a nursing mother lacks milk, the baby's stool first becomes viscous, thick, then dry, green or grayish-green, crumbly, passes in small quantities, or persistent constipation occurs.
Mixed and bottle-fed baby's stool
Compared to infants receiving mother's milk, bottle-fed babies poop less frequently (in the first months of life - 3-4 times a day, by six months - 1-2 times a day), their stools are denser, putty-like consistency, dark yellow in color, with an unpleasant putrefactive or sharp sour smell. With a sharp transition to artificial feeding, when changing the usual mixture, stool retention (constipation) is possible or, on the contrary, appears.
Feeding mixtures with high content iron (for prevention) may be accompanied by stool discharge dark green due to the presence of unabsorbed iron in it.
When feeding babies not with artificial adapted formulas, but with natural cow's milk Even more often, various problems with stool are observed: chronic constipation or diarrhea. The feces of such children are usually bright yellow, sometimes with a greasy sheen, and a “cheesy” smell.
Changes in stool due to the introduction of complementary foods
Complementary foods themselves, which are a completely new type of food for a child, require active work all departments digestive tract and enzymes. In most cases, children do not fully digest the first complementary foods, and undigested particles are passed out in the stool; they can easily be seen in the baby’s feces in the form of heterogeneous inclusions, grains, lumps, etc. At the same time, a small amount of mucus may appear in the stool. If such changes are not accompanied by the child’s anxiety, vomiting, diarrhea and other painful symptoms, there is no need to cancel complementary feeding - its introduction should be continued, very slowly increasing the single portion of the dish and carefully monitoring the well-being and character of the baby’s stool.
Certain complementary foods, for example, vegetables with a high content of plant fibers, can have a laxative effect - stools become more frequent (usually 1-2 times compared to the norm for of this child), and feces sometimes represent a slightly modified dish. For example, mothers note that they gave their child boiled carrots, and after 2-3 hours he pooped with the same carrots. When the initial goal was not to stimulate the baby’s bowel movements (the child did not suffer from constipation), it is better to temporarily postpone the introduction of the product that caused such a reaction, moving on to more “tender” vegetables (zucchini, potatoes) or cereals.
Other dishes, on the contrary, have a fixing effect and increase the viscosity of stool (rice porridge).
All this should be taken into account and correlated with the child’s digestive characteristics when introducing complementary foods.
In general, the introduction of any complementary foods to healthy children is accompanied by an increase in the amount of stool, its heterogeneity, changes in smell and color.
Pathological changes in stool and methods of treatment
Now let's look at what changes in the regularity of bowel movements or in quality characteristics stools are abnormal and indicate indigestion, disease, or other pathological conditions.
Abnormal bowel movements
There are three possible options: constipation, diarrhea or irregular bowel movements.
Constipation
Constipation includes one or more of the following symptoms:
- delayed bowel movement – for 2 days or more; for a newborn baby, constipation can be considered the absence of stool for 24 hours, if previously he pooped several times a day;
- painful or difficult defecation, accompanied by screaming and straining of the child; frequent ineffective straining (the child tries to poop, but cannot);
- dense consistency of feces, “sheep” stool.
The main causes of constipation in infants:
- mother's lack of milk;
- irrational feeding (overfeeding, incorrect selection of formulas, feeding with cow's milk, early introduction of complementary foods, lack of fluid);
- low physical activity;
- immaturity or pathology of the digestive system;
- concomitant diseases (pathology nervous system, etc.);
- organic causes (intestinal obstruction, dolichosigma, Hirschsprung's disease, etc.).
Help with constipation
In case of acute constipation in a baby, regardless of the reasons for stool retention, defecation should be established. First, you can try to help the baby in this way: when he strains, trying to poop, bring your legs bent at the knees to his tummy and lightly (!) press on the tummy for about 10 seconds, then do light massage abdomen clockwise around the navel, repeat the pressure. If auxiliary measures are ineffective, it is recommended to use children's glycerin suppositories or give your child a microenema (“Microlax”). In the absence of home medicine cabinet baby laxatives, you can perform a cleansing enema boiled water room temperature (within 19-22°C) - for a child in the first months of life, use a sterile (boiled) syringe of the smallest volume. You can also try to stimulate bowel movements reflexively by irritating the anus (by inserting the tip of a syringe or gas tube into it).
Sometimes difficulties during bowel movements are caused by a large amount of gases in the baby’s intestines - this is quite easy to understand by the way the baby cries when trying to poop, his tummy is swollen, rumbling can be heard, but gases and feces do not pass away. In such situations, abdominal massage and leg adduction are also used; you can simply try placing the baby on his tummy, carrying him in his arms, placing his stomach on your forearms. Warming the tummy makes it easier to pass gas (and subsequently stool) (the mother can put the baby on her stomach, face to face; apply a heated diaper to the stomach). From medicines enough quick effect to eliminate colic, simethicone preparations are given (Bobotik, Espumisan, Subsimplex), to improve the passage of gases they are used herbal remedies (Dill water, Plantex, fennel decoction, Baby Calm).
If you have recurring constipation, it is not recommended to use it continuously. reflex irritation sphincter tube or use cleansing enemas - there is a high probability that the child will “get used to” pooping not on his own, but with additional help. When chronic constipation it is necessary, first of all, to establish their cause and, if possible, eliminate it. Treatment of chronic constipation in infants should be comprehensive, including correction of the mother’s diet or selection of artificial formulas, proper timely introduction of complementary foods, daily walks, gymnastics, massage, and, if necessary, supplementation with water. Less commonly prescribed medications(Lactulose, etc.).
Diarrhea
Diarrhea is understood as frequent (2 or more times compared to individual and age norm) bowel movement with the release of liquefied stool. Diarrhea does not include the constant release of small amounts of feces (lightly smearing the surface of the diaper) during the passage of gases - this occurs due to the physiological weakness of the anal sphincter, and as the child grows, feces stop coming out when gases pass.
The table below shows the most probable reasons diarrhea in infants.
| Cause | Signs | Treatment options |
| Reaction to |
|
|
| Acute intestinal infection |
|
|
| Lactose intolerance |
| If symptoms are moderate, no help is required. In case of obvious violations, consult a doctor; enzymes are prescribed; less often, a transfer to lactose-free mixtures is required. |
| Functional digestive disorder (overfeeding, early introduction of complementary foods) |
| Correction of diet:
|
| Taking medications | Connection with taking medications (antibiotics, sulfonamides, antipyretics). When treated with certain drugs (including antibiotics containing clavulanic acid - amoxiclav, augmentin), diarrhea develops immediately due to stimulation of intestinal motility. Long-term antibacterial therapy can cause dysbacteriosis and, against this background, diarrhea. | Consultation with a doctor. It may be necessary to discontinue (replace) the drug or additionally prescribe probiotics. |
| Intestinal dysbiosis | Prolonged diarrhea or irregular bowel movements without fever, other symptoms may occur (lethargy, poor appetite, poor weight gain, etc.). Confirmed when laboratory research, but it should be borne in mind that stool analysis for dysbiosis is not indicative in infants under 3 months of age: during this period, the child’s intestines are just populated by normal microflora. | Treatment is carried out as prescribed by the doctor. |
Irregular bowel movements in infants
Irregular bowel movements are alternating constipation with diarrhea, or alternating normal stool with constipation and (or) diarrhea. The most likely causes are poor feeding and intestinal dysbiosis. Irregular bowel movements may be a manifestation of chronic constipation when, after long absence a large amount of liquid feces appears.
If you have irregular bowel movements, you should first of all pay attention to the child’s nutritional pattern. If errors in nutrition are excluded, there is no overfeeding, and the baby receives food according to its age, then you need to consult a doctor for further examination and treatment.
Changes in stool quantity
A decrease in the daily amount of feces in infants is observed mainly with constipation and fasting - in both cases, the feces are dense, difficult to pass, dark yellow or yellow-brown in color. Abundant stool is possible due to overfeeding. Persistent selection large amounts of stool, especially unusual color, with a sharp unpleasant smell, requires mandatory examination of the child (to exclude enzyme deficiency, intestinal diseases, etc.).
Changes in consistency
Feces become denser with constipation, dehydration and lack of food; liquid – against the background of diarrhea for any reason.
Color Changes
As we have already discussed, the color of feces infant is highly variable, and most often the color changes do not pose a danger - with some exceptions - the baby's stool should not be colorless or black.
Black color is alarming symptom, which may be a sign of bleeding from upper sections gastrointestinal tract, and with black stools, bleeding should always be ruled out first. In addition to black stool (melena), bleeding may be accompanied by pallor, lethargy of the child, and often vomiting mixed with scarlet blood. Black stools are also observed when blood is swallowed in case of nosebleeds.
However, there is quite harmless reasons The baby has black stool:
- taking iron supplements;
- Ingestion of blood by the baby during sucking due to cracked nipples in the mother.
Pathological impurities
There should never be any admixtures of pus or scarlet blood in the baby’s stool (even streaks of blood) - if they are detected, you should immediately seek medical help. Pus may appear in inflammatory (infectious and non-infectious) intestinal diseases, blood - in case of bleeding from lower sections digestive tract, with severe infectious diarrhea, with , with cracks in anus etc.
When to see a doctor immediately
Blood in a baby's stool is a reason to immediately consult a doctor. Immediate seeking of medical help (calling an ambulance) is necessary if the baby has at least one of the following symptoms:
- Black stools (not associated with taking iron supplements).
- Scarlet blood or streaks of blood in the stool.
- Diarrhea with high temperature, vomiting.
- Raspberry jelly stool - mucus comes out instead of stool Pink colour- a sign of intussusception.
- Discolored stool in combination with yellow skin and eyes.
- A sharp deterioration in the child’s well-being: lethargy, pallor, monotonous screaming, incessant crying, etc.
Not only the above, but also any other “incorrect” changes in your baby’s stool, for which you are unable to find an explanation on your own or are not sure of their causes, require consultation with a pediatrician. It's always better to play it safe and discuss any warning signs with your doctor.
Which doctor should I contact?
If your child's stool changes, you should contact your pediatrician. After diagnostics and tests, the doctor can refer the parents and child to a consultation with a gastroenterologist, infectious disease specialist, allergist, endocrinologist, surgeon, or hematologist.
Dr. Komarovsky about constipation in children:
(votes - 6
, average: 3,67
out of 5)
Defecation, or emptying the rectum, is the release of feces by the human body. Normally, defecation in an adult occurs 1-2 times a day. Also, the frequency is considered to be 1 time in 2 days. Frequent, loose stool is called diarrhea, infrequent stool is called constipation. These pathological conditions are usually accompanied by visible changes in bowel movements.
Patients often ask a question at a doctor’s appointment: I go to the toilet a lot, why does this happen, what should be the norm in this condition, what should I do? To answer it, you need to conduct a series of examinations and analyses. If a pathology is detected, appropriate treatment will be prescribed. You and I will not be able to make a diagnosis, but we will be able to find out how often a person should have bowel movements normally and when the frequency of bowel movements indicates pathology.
Diarrhea and stool retention
Diarrhea, diarrhea - usually characterized by a liquid, and in some cases, watery consistency, occurs frequently, up to 10 times a day. When defecation is delayed, called constipation, stool hardens, becomes rough, and its consistency loses elasticity. When passing through the rectum, they can injure the mucous membrane. With constipation, bowel movements can occur once every 3 days.
Typically, such disturbances in the frequency of bowel movements are symptoms certain disease. If you have diarrhea or constipation, you should consult a gastroenterologist or proctologist. If an adult has hyperperistalsis ( frequent stool), several times a day, but does not bring any inconvenience or negative feelings, this can be considered the norm.
However, doctors recommend, in this case, to monitor appearance your stool (consistency, color, impurities, smell). If everything is fine with this, but the person walks very often during the day, it is recommended to visit a psychotherapist. Frequent bowel movements may indicate the presence of a somatoform disorder.
Why do I often go to the toilet for a long time? Causes of frequent bowel movements
If frequent stools of normal consistency are observed in a newborn, this indicates healthy digestion baby. If an adult often goes to the toilet for a long time, this may indicate some pathological conditions.
As we have already said, the norm for such trips to the toilet is considered to be once a day. Or 2 times, if you are overweight or eat a large amount of food, or if the foods eaten have a laxative effect (for example, prunes). Let me clarify that we are not talking about diarrhea. We are talking about frequent stools of normal consistency.
Sometimes frequent bowel movements in an adult are observed due to insufficient production of enzymes, when the intestines lose the ability to fully break down fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. In this case, the urge to go to the toilet occurs several hours after eating.
Of course, with normal metabolism substances, the frequency of bowel movements can also be more than 2 times a day. But in this case, the feces do not change their consistency, color, smell, have no inclusions or foreign impurities. However, in any case, it is better to consult a gastroenterologist and get tested for enzymes.
When is frequent bowel movements a symptom of what pathology?
When a patient wonders: why do I go to the toilet so often, what should I do in this case? There is only one answer - contact a specialist. Especially if bowel movements occur more than five times a day. In this case, you should consult a doctor as soon as possible, since this condition cannot be considered normal and is often a symptom of certain, sometimes quite dangerous diseases. For example:
Crohn's disease, which affects the large intestine;
- various types of colitis;
- presence of salmonellosis;
- dysentery, hyperthyroidism, and intestinal tuberculosis;
- cancer- tumor of the colon or rectum.
All these and other pathologies and intestinal diseases can be accompanied by frequent bowel movements, mainly diarrhea. Are changing external signs stool: consistency, color, smell. Foreign inclusions and impurities (mucus, blood) may be observed.
If frequent stools are loose, watery, painful, we're talking about about diarrhea. This is a symptom of a wide variety of gastrointestinal diseases, including dysbacteriosis, food poisoning. You can't do it without medical care.
Frequent trips to the toilet may occur due to insufficient production of bile acids. Then the feces acquire pale color, oily, shiny consistency. At the same time, the quality of vision in a person decreases, especially in the evening, bones become more fragile and brittle. In area anus bleeding is observed. All these are symptoms of diseases of the liver, biliary tract, or duodenum.
How to normalize frequent bowel movements? What should I do for this?
The sooner the pathology is detected, the better. If you try to endure the urge to go to the toilet for a long time, the consequences can be very unpleasant. In particular, constipation may develop, causing slagging in the body. Fecal stones will begin to form in the intestines, damaging the intestinal mucosa.
Therefore, the first step is to find the reason this state. To do this, you need to see a doctor, undergo necessary examination, get tested. You may need to undergo an ultrasound internal organs, do a colonoscopy.
Feces or chair, or excreta, or feces(lat. faeces) - the contents of the lower parts of the colon, removed from the body during bowel movements. Feces are the end product of digestion, resulting from complex biochemical processes in the gastrointestinal tract. It is believed that feces are formed from chyme in the large intestine.
The daily amount of feces in healthy people can vary markedly. Plant foods increase the amount of feces, animal foods reduce them. At mixed diet The daily amount of feces usually does not exceed 190-200 g.
The original stool of newborn babies is called meconium. Black, tarry feces with a foul odor are called melena.
The medical scale of forms of human feces, which includes 7 gradations of the type of feces, from hardened dark lumps to watery slurry, is called “”.
Characteristics of feces healthy person
Normal stool It has a dense consistency and a cylindrical shape. A large number of plant food in the diet makes stool thick and mushy. A thin, mushy or watery consistency of stool may occur when high consumption water. The color of stool with a normal mixed diet is dark brown, with meat diet- black-brown, with vegetarian diet- light brown, with a milk diet - light brown or light yellow. Taking bismuth and bismuth-containing medications (De-Nol, Ventrisol, Novobismol, Pilocid, Vikanol Life, Bismuth tripotassium dicitrate, Vitridinol, Ulcavis, Escape, Tribimol, Gastro-norm, Pepto-Bismol) makes the stool black. Iron gives stool a black color with a greenish tint. Sorrel and spinach give the stool a greenish tint, pork - a reddish tint. Blueberries and black currant turns stool black or black-brown color.
Feces usually have a mild, unpleasant odor, which is due to the presence of indole, skatole, phenol, creasols and other substances formed as a result of the bacterial breakdown of proteins.
Feces should normally not contain mucus, blood, pus, or food debris.
Microorganisms in the feces of a healthy person
High quality and quantitative composition the main microflora of the colon in a healthy person in colony-forming units (CFU) in terms of 1 g of feces (according to OST 91500.11.0004-2003 “Protocol for the management of patients. Intestinal dysbiosis”):|
Types of microorganisms |
Age, years
|
||
|
less than 1 |
1–60 | more than 60 | |
| Bifidobacteria ( Bifidobacterium) |
10 10 –10 11 | 10 9 –10 10 | 10 8 –10 9 |
| Lactobacilli ( Lactobacillus) | 10 6 –10 7 | 10 7 –10 8 | 10 6 –10 7 |
| Bacteroides ( Bacteroides) | 10 7 –10 8 | 10 9 –10 10 | 10 10 –10 11 |
| Enterococci ( Enterococcus) | 10 5 –10 7 | 10 5 –10 8 | 10 6 – 10 7 |
| Fusobacteria ( Fusobacterium) | <10 6 | 10 8 –10 9 | 10 8 –10 9 |
| Eubacteria ( Eubacterium) | 10 6 –10 7 | 10 9 –10 10 | 10 9 –10 10 |
| Peptostreptococci ( Peptostreptococcus) | <10 5 | 10 9 –10 10 | 10 10 |
| Clostridia ( Clostridium) | ⩽10 3 | ⩽10 5 | ⩽10 6 |
| E. coli ( Escherichia coli) typical | 10 7 –10 8 | 10 7 –10 8 | 10 7 –10 8 |
| Lactose-negative E. coli | <10 5 | <10 5 | <10 5 |
| Hemolytic Escherichia coli | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other opportunistic bacteria: Klebsiella ( Klebsiella), enterobacter ( Enterobacter), hafnium ( Hafnia), serratia ( Serratia), proteus ( Proteus), morganella ( Morganella), providence ( Providencia), citrobacter ( Citrobacter) and others |
<10 4 | <10 4 | <10 4 |
| Staphylococcus aureus ( Staphylococcus aureus) |
0 | 0 | 0 |
| Staphylococcus saprophytic ( Staphylococcus saprophyticus) and epidermal ( Staphylococcus epidermidis) | ⩽10 4 | ⩽10 4 | ⩽10 4 |
| Mushrooms of the genus Candida | ⩽10 3 | ⩽10 4 | ⩽10 4 |
| Non-fermenting bacteria: pseudomonas ( Pseudomonas), Acinetobacter ( Acinetobacter) and others |
⩽10 3 | ⩽10 4 | ⩽10 4 |
Fungi are found in the stool of approximately 65-70% of healthy people Candida albican(Burova S.A.)
Stool acidity
The acidity of the feces of a healthy person eating a mixed diet is determined by the vital activity of the colon microflora and is equal to 6.8–7.6 pH. Stool acidity is considered normal in the range from 6.0 to 8.0 pH. The acidity of meconium is about 6 pH. Deviations from the norm for stool acidity:- sharply acidic (pH less than 5.5) occurs with fermentative dyspepsia
- acidic (pH from 5.5 to 6.7) may be due to impaired absorption of fatty acids in the small intestine
- alkaline (pH from 8.0 to 8.5) may be due to the rotting of food proteins not digested in the stomach and small intestine and inflammatory exudate as a result of activation of putrefactive microflora and the formation of ammonia and other alkaline components in the large intestine
- sharply alkaline (pH more than 8.5) occurs with putrefactive dyspepsia (colitis)
About constipation, diarrhea, fecal incontinence
You can read more about constipation: Recommendations of the American Gastroenterological Association “Constipation. The crux of the problem." Part I and Part II, “Constipation. Practical guide of the World Organization of Gastroenterology", "Nutrition in children with constipation", "Non-drug measures for constipation", "10 tips from the American College of Gastroenterology for constipation and fecal incontinence" and the article "Constipation". About fecal incontinence: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services resource "Fecal Incontinence."
Feces in children with various diseases
In the first day or two of life, healthy newborns secrete meconium - feces, which is a thick, viscous mass of dark olive color, odorless, accumulated in the intestines before the child is born, before the first application to the breast. The absence of epithelial cells in meconium may be a sign of intestinal obstruction in a newborn. The admixture of meconium in the amniotic fluid at the beginning of labor indicates intrauterine asphyxia. Feces in breast-fed children of the first year of life are mushy, golden-yellow in color with a slightly acidic odor. The number of bowel movements is up to 7 times a day in the first half of the year, and 2–3 times a day in the second. With artificial feeding, the stool is thicker, putty-like consistency, light yellow in color, with an unpleasant odor, the number of bowel movements is 3-4 times a day for up to six months and 1-2 times a day for up to a year. In older children, feces are shaped (sausage-type), dark brown in color, and do not contain pathological impurities (mucus, blood). Bowel movements occur 1–2 times a day. With various diseases, the nature of the stool changes, they are distinguished: - dyspeptic stool, liquid with an admixture of mucus, greens, white lumps, foamy, sourish odor, occurs with simple dyspepsia - “fermentative dyspepsia”
- “hungry” stool, scanty, reminiscent of dyspeptic stool, but thicker, darker, occurs with malnutrition
- stool with toxic dyspepsia is watery, light yellow in color with an admixture of mucus
- with colienteritis, the stool is liquid, ocher-yellow, less often greenish, mixed with mucus and white lumps
- with salmonellosis, the stool is liquid, swamp green in color, there is a small amount of mucus, there is no blood
- with dysentery, stools are frequent (up to 15 times), contain a large amount of mucus, pus and streaks of blood, there is almost no feces, defecation is accompanied by tenesmus
- with typhoid fever, the stool is frequent (up to 10 times), liquid, fetid, in the form of pea puree, occasionally containing an admixture of bile
- with cholera, stool is almost continuous (up to 100 times a day), copious, in the form of rice water, never contains blood
- in case of food poisoning, the stool is liquid, frequent, profuse, greenish-yellow in color with an admixture of mucus, rarely streaked with blood
- with amoebiasis, stools are frequent, raspberry jelly-colored
- with giardiasis, stool 3-4 times a day, yellow-green in color, soft consistency
- with viral hepatitis, the stool is acholic, gray-clay colored, without pathological impurities
- Malabsorption syndromes are characterized by polyfecalia, when the amount of feces exceeds 2% of the food eaten and liquid drunk. This syndrome is observed with disaccharide deficiency (lactose and sucrose), celiac disease (gluten intolerance, gliadin), cow's milk protein intolerance,
The normal frequency of stool varies over a fairly wide range. First of all, stool frequency depends on age. In newborns, stool 6-7 times a day is the norm, while in adults, such a frequency of stool clearly indicates pathology.
However, already in infancy, the frequency of stool strongly depends on the nature of the child’s nutrition. If the baby is breastfed, then the frequency of bowel movements should normally coincide with the number of feedings. In infants who are bottle-fed, stool, as a rule, occurs 1-2 times a day, and there is some tendency to constipation.
The frequency of stool in children over one year old is 1-4 times a day, and in children over three years old and in adults this figure varies within a very wide range: from 3-4 times a week to 3-4 times a day. Here, a lot depends on the nature of the diet (what is the table, so is the chair) and the individual characteristics of the body.
It is generally accepted that the ideal frequency of stool in children from three years of age and in adults is 1-2 times a day.
Having bowel movements 3-4 times a week in itself is not a pathology, but it requires a review of your diet (in such cases, doctors advise increasing the amount of plant-based foods containing dietary fiber in your diet).
The frequency of stool 3-4 times a day in adults and in children over three years of age is the norm if it is not associated with pathological changes in its consistency, color, etc., and is not accompanied by pain during defecation and/or other discomfort. .
A stool frequency of more than 3-4 times a day indicates pathology. Reason frequent bowel movements There may be various acute and chronic diseases that require adequate treatment.
Meanwhile, very often, instead of seeking qualified medical help and looking for the cause of the increase in stool frequency, patients independently prescribe a variety of antidiarrheal drugs, or are treated with folk remedies. In this way, time is lost, and, consequently, the chances of getting rid of the underlying disease.
Frequent bowel movements due to diarrhea (diarrhea). Symptoms and causes of diarrhea
Diarrhea is stool with a frequency of more than 2-3 times a day, with a pasty or liquid consistency. With diarrhea, stool contains an increased amount of fluid. If during normal stool the stool contains about 60% water, then with diarrhea its amount increases to 85-95%. Often, in addition to increased frequency and liquid consistency, such symptoms diarrhea, such as a change in the color of stool and the presence of pathological inclusions (blood, mucus, undigested food debris).
Severe diarrhea also increases the volume of stool. Often the human body becomes dehydrated, which can lead to serious complications including death.
Acute infectious diarrhea is characterized by a sudden onset, the presence of general (fever, general malaise) and local (abdominal pain) symptoms, changes in the general blood test (leukocytosis in bacterial, and leukopenia in viral infection).
Infectious diarrhea is a highly contagious disease acquired through contaminated water and food. The “fly” factor is of great importance, so outbreaks of infection are typical for the warm season.
In many regions with hot climates - countries of Africa, Asia (excluding China), Latin America - infectious diarrhea ranks first in the structure of mortality. Children especially often get sick and die.
The period from infection to the appearance of the first signs of the disease depends on the pathogen and ranges from several hours (salmonellosis, staphylococcus) to 10 days (yersiniosis).
Some pathogens have their own “favorite” transmission routes. Thus, cholera spreads mainly through water, salmonellosis through eggs and poultry, and staphylococcal infection through milk and dairy products.
The clinical picture of many infectious diarrhea is quite characteristic; the diagnosis is confirmed by laboratory testing.
Attending doctor: infectious disease specialist
Frequent bowel movements due to bacterial diarrhea
Frequent, painful stools are the main symptom of dysentery.The reason for frequent bowel movements during dysentery is damage to the large intestine. In some cases, the frequency of stools reaches 30 or more per day, so that the patient cannot count it.
Another characteristic sign of dysentery is changes in the nature of stool. Since the terminal sections of the intestinal wall are affected, the feces contain a large number of pathological inclusions visible to the naked eye (mucus, blood, pus).
In severe cases of dysentery, the symptom of “rectal spitting” occurs - extremely frequent stools with the release of a small amount of mucus mixed with pus and blood smears.
Damage to the large intestine is manifested by another characteristic sign of dysentery - tenesmus (frequent painful urge to empty the bowel).
The frequency of stool and the severity of other symptoms of diarrhea in acute dysentery correlate with the degree of general intoxication of the body (fever, weakness, headache, in some cases, confusion).
In the absence of adequate treatment, acute dysentery often becomes chronic, and bacterial carriage is common. The disease requires hospital treatment and long-term observation.
Cholera. Frequent bowel movements with secretory small intestinal diarrhea
If dysentery is a striking example of exudative type diarrhea, then cholera is a typical example of secretory diarrhea.
The frequency of stool in cholera varies and can be relatively small (3-10 times a day), however, a large volume of stool (in some cases up to 20 liters per day) quickly leads to dehydration of the body.
The onset of the disease is unusually acute, so that without emergency medical care, death can occur within the first hours or even minutes of the disease.
Sometimes the so-called “dry” or “fulminant” cholera occurs, when, due to the massive entry of water into the intestinal lumen, an increase in the concentration of potassium in the blood plasma occurs, leading to cardiac arrest. In such cases, diarrhea does not have time to develop.
In the initial stages of the disease, stools are fecal in nature, then become watery. A characteristic symptom of cholera is diarrhea in the form of rice water. In the absence of adequate therapy, the frequency of stool increases, and vomiting of watery contents may occur.
Meanwhile, there are no inflammatory changes in the intestines, so the general symptoms of cholera are symptoms of dehydration: thirst, dry skin and visible mucous membranes (in severe cases, wrinkling of the skin of the hands - “washerwoman’s hands”), hoarseness (up to complete aphonia), decreased blood pressure, increased heart rate, increased muscle tone (with severe dehydration - cramps).
Often a symptom of cholera is a decrease in body temperature (34.5 – 36.0).
Today, thanks to advances in medicine, cholera has been excluded from the list of especially dangerous infections, and is extremely rare in our region.
Diarrhea of mixed origin. Symptoms of salmonellosis
Frequent stools are a constant sign of salmonellosis, and the frequency ranges from 3-5 times a day in mild forms affecting the upper gastrointestinal tract, to 10 or more times in cases of infection spreading to the terminal parts of the intestine.
Diarrhea due to salmonellosis has a mixed genesis (secretory and exudative). The predominance of one or another mechanism depends both on the strain of the pathogen and on the characteristics of the patient’s body.
Sometimes the disease has a cholera-like course and is complicated by severe dehydration.
A diagnostically significant sign of salmonellosis is the green tint of stool (from dirty green to emerald). The stool is usually foamy, with lumps of mucus. However, with cholera-like diarrhea, stool in the form of rice water is possible. In cases where the infectious process covers all parts of the intestine, including the large intestine, streaks of blood appear in typically “salmonella” feces.
Another distinctive symptom of salmonellosis is pain in the so-called salmonellosis triangle: in the epigastrium (under the stomach), in the navel, right iliac region (to the right of the navel from below).
Acute salmonellosis is characterized by pronounced signs of intoxication: severe fever (up to 39-40 degrees), repeated vomiting, coated tongue, headache, adynamia. In severe cases, generalization of the process is possible (sepsis, typhoid-like forms).
Just like dysentery, acute salmonellosis is prone to becoming chronic, so careful treatment and long-term observation are required.
Frequent bowel movements due to food poisoning
Food poisoning (toxicoinfections) is a group of acute diseases of the gastrointestinal tract caused by consumption of foods containing bacterial toxins.
The cause of the disease in this case is not the bacteria themselves, but their toxins produced outside the human body. Most of these toxins are heat labile and are inactivated by heating. However, the toxin produced by Staphylococcus aureus can survive boiling for 20 minutes to 2 hours.
Most often, foodborne illnesses occur when eating low-quality foods containing high amounts of protein. Staphylococcus most often multiplies in dairy products and creams, clostridia and proteus - in meat and fish products.
Foodborne toxic infections have a group explosive nature, when in a short period (about two hours) all participants in the outbreak (sometimes dozens of people) fall ill.
Diarrhea of secretory origin is an integral symptom of food poisoning, which usually occurs as acute gastroenteritis (damage to the stomach and small intestine). Stool with toxic infections is watery, foamy, without pathological inclusions. With severe diarrhea, dehydration may occur, leading to the development of hypovolemic shock.
Frequent bowel movements (up to 10 times a day) are accompanied by symptoms characteristic of food poisoning, such as nausea and vomiting (most often repeated, sometimes uncontrollable). Signs of general intoxication of the body are often observed: fever, headache, weakness.
The duration of the disease is 1-3 days. However, in some cases, the lack of timely assistance leads to death.
Diarrhea in children. Frequent bowel movements due to exposure to pathogenic E. coli
Escherichia coli is a bacterium that normally inhabits the human intestine. However, some varieties of this microorganism can cause severe intestinal damage in children - the so-called escherichiosis.
The disease most often affects infants under one year of age. Escherichia coli in children causes diarrhea of mixed origin (secretory and exudative), but the leading symptom is dehydration, which is extremely dangerous for the child’s body.
Frequent stools with escherchiosis in children, as a rule, have a bright yellow color and spattering stool. In the case of a cholera-like course, the stool becomes watery and takes on the character of rice water. Diarrhea is often accompanied by repeated vomiting or regurgitation.
Symptoms of diarrhea caused by E. coli depend on the type of pathogen. In addition to cholera-like esherchiosis, there are forms similar to dysentery and salmonellosis. In such cases, signs of general intoxication of the body are more pronounced; there may be pathological inclusions in the form of mucus and blood in the stool.
Pathogenic E. coli can cause serious complications in children of the first year of life, especially newborns, in the form of generalization of the process (blood poisoning). Then the symptoms of diarrhea are joined by signs of infectious-toxic shock (drop in pressure, tachycardia, oliguria) and symptoms of damage to internal organs (kidneys, brain, liver), caused by the formation of metastatic purulent foci.
Therefore, Escherchiosis in children, as a rule, is treated in a hospital under the constant supervision of specialists.
Frequent bowel movements due to viral diarrhea. Symptoms of rotavirus infection in children and adults
Today, several groups of viruses are known that can cause diarrhea in children and adults (rotaviruses, adenoviruses, astroviruses, Norfolk virus, etc.).In the Russian Federation, rotavirus infection is the most common, with a pronounced winter-autumn seasonality. Sometimes the disease begins as an acute respiratory viral infection, and then symptoms of diarrhea are added with a stool frequency of 4-15 times a day. The stool is light-colored and watery in consistency.
Like other viral diarrheas, rotavirus infection in children and adults is accompanied by severe fever and severe vomiting. The course of the disease is severe or moderate, but complications are rare (the disease goes away in 4-5 days). In young children, diarrhea can lead to dehydration.
Rotavirus infection in adults can cause unusually severe pain, so patients are often admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of “acute abdomen.”
There are primary and secondary malabsorption. Unlike secondary malabsorption, which arose as a complication of a disease, primary malabsorption is characterized by a congenital malabsorption of certain substances. Therefore, primary malabsorption manifests itself and is diagnosed in childhood.
Malabsorption syndrome in children is manifested by a pronounced lag in development (physical and mental), and requires urgent compensatory measures.
The attending physician for malabsorption syndrome: therapist (pediatrician), gastroenterologist.
Frequent bowel movements due to exocrine pancreatic insufficiency
Frequent bowel movements (3-4 times a day) with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency are caused by a lack of production of enzymes necessary for the breakdown of fats, proteins and carbohydrates.The reserve capacity of the pancreas is quite large (10% of healthy acini can provide normal enzyme production), however, malabsorption syndrome occurs in 30% of patients with chronic pancreatitis. This is the main cause of malabsorption syndrome in pancreatic diseases.
Much less common is malabsorption syndrome caused by pancreatic cancer. Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in this case indicates the terminal stage of the disease.
Sometimes malabsorption syndrome is caused by damage to the pancreas due to cystic fibrosis (severe hereditary genetic pathology accompanied by gross disturbances in the activity of the exocrine glands).
Frequent bowel movements in diseases of the liver and biliary tract
Frequent bowel movements in diseases of the liver and biliary tract can be caused by a lack of production of bile acids necessary for the breakdown of fats, or a violation of the flow of bile into the duodenum (cholestasis). The stool becomes acholic (pale) and acquires an oily sheen. With cholestasis, the normal metabolism of fat-soluble vitamins A, K, E and D is disrupted, which is manifested by the clinical manifestations of corresponding vitamin deficiencies (impaired twilight vision, bleeding, pathological fragility of bones).
In addition, cholestasis syndrome is characterized by symptoms of obstructive jaundice (yellowness of the skin and sclera, itching, dark urine).
Among diseases of the liver and biliary tract leading to malabsorption syndrome, the most common are viral and alcoholic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, compression of the common bile duct by a pancreatic tumor, and cholelithiasis.
Often, frequent bowel movements are observed after removal of the gallbladder. In this case, the metabolism of bile acids is disrupted due to the lack of a reservoir for their storage.
Frequent bowel movements with celiac disease
Celiac disease is a hereditary disease characterized by congenital deficiency of enzymes that break down gliadin (a fraction of the gluten protein contained in cereals). Uncleaved gliadin triggers an autoimmune reaction, ultimately leading to disruption of parietal digestion and absorption of various substances in the small intestine.Clinical symptoms of celiac disease in children appear during the period when the child begins to be fed cereal products (porridge, bread, cookies), that is, at the end of the first – beginning of the second half of life.
Diarrhea in celiac disease is characterized by an increased volume of feces, and other symptoms of malabsorption (anemia, edema) quickly appear. The child loses weight and lags behind in development.
When symptoms of celiac disease appear in children, a strict diet is necessary with the exclusion of grains containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats, etc.), additional examination and treatment.
Frequent bowel movements in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease
Nonspecific ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are chronic inflammatory bowel diseases that occur with exacerbations and remissions. The origin of these pathologies still remains unclear; a hereditary predisposition and connection with the nature of nutrition have been proven (rough plant foods with a large amount of dietary fiber have a preventive effect).Stool frequency in nonspecific ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease is an indicator of the activity of the process. In mild and moderate cases, stool occurs 4-6 times a day, and in severe cases it reaches 10-20 times a day or more.
Symptoms of diarrhea in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease include a significant increase in the daily weight of feces, a large number of pathological inclusions in the stool (blood, mucus, pus). In the case of ulcerative colitis, there may be profuse intestinal bleeding.
Pain in the abdomen is more typical of Crohn's disease, but also occurs with ulcerative colitis. A characteristic symptom of Crohn's disease is also dense infiltrates palpated in the right iliac region.
These chronic intestinal diseases often occur with fever and weight loss, and anemia often develops.
Approximately 60% of patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease experience extraintestinal manifestations, such as arthritis, lesions of the choroid of the eyes, skin (erythema nodosum, pyoderma gangrenosum), and liver (sclerosing cholangitis). It is characteristic that sometimes extraintestinal lesions precede the development of chronic intestinal inflammation.
These diseases in the acute stage require inpatient treatment in a specialized gastroenterology department.
Frequent bowel movements due to colon and rectal cancer
Today, colon and rectal cancer is the second most common cancer among men (after bronchial cancer) and the third most common among women (after cervical cancer and breast cancer).Frequent bowel movements may be the first and only symptom of colon and rectal cancer. It appears even when there are no signs characteristic of cancer, such as weight loss, anemia, or increased ESR.
Diarrhea in patients with colorectal cancer is paradoxical (persistent constipation followed by diarrhea), since it is caused by a narrowing of the segment of the intestine affected by the tumor.
Another characteristic symptom of diarrhea in case of colon and rectal cancer is that in the stool, as a rule, pathological inclusions are visible to the naked eye - blood, mucus, pus. However, there are cases when blood in the stool can only be determined by laboratory methods.
Particular oncological vigilance should be shown in relation to patients in whom the described symptoms first appeared in old age. The risk group also includes patients with a family history of colorectal cancer: patients who were previously treated for ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease. It should be noted that colon polyposis is a precancerous condition, and the development of chronic paradoxical diarrhea in such patients can be a serious symptom of oncological pathology.
In such cases, a thorough examination should be carried out, including digital examination, quantitative determination of carcinoembryonic antigen, endoscopic diagnosis with mandatory targeted biopsy, and, if necessary, irrigoscopy.
Such an examination will make it possible to detect the disease at earlier stages and save the patient’s life.
Attending doctor: oncologist.
Frequent bowel movements with diarrhea of hyperkinetic origin
Frequent bowel movements with hyperthyroidism
Frequent bowel movements can be an early sign of hyperthyroidism (occurs in 25% of patients in the early stages of the disease). At one time, doctors excluded the diagnosis of diffuse toxic goiter if the patient did not have daily bowel movements. Diarrhea, together with such a constant symptom of early hyperthyroidism as severe emotional lability, often becomes the basis for a diagnosis of a functional bowel disorder (irritable bowel syndrome).
The mechanism for the occurrence of frequent bowel movements with increased thyroid function is due to the stimulating effect of thyroid hormones on intestinal motility. The time it takes for chyme to pass through the gastrointestinal tract in patients with symptoms of hyperthyroidism is reduced by two and a half times.
In the case of a detailed clinical picture of the disease with such specific symptoms as exophthalmos, enlargement of the thyroid gland, severe tachycardia, etc., making a diagnosis does not cause difficulties.
In the initial stages of hyperthyroidism, in controversial cases, additional laboratory tests are required to determine the level of thyroid hormones.
Attending doctor: endocrinologist
Frequent bowel movements due to functional diarrhea (irritable bowel syndrome)
Functional diarrhea is the most common cause of frequent bowel movements. According to some data, every 6 out of 10 cases of chronic diarrhea are functionally determined.Very often, such patients are given a vague diagnosis of “chronic spastic colitis.” Often they are treated for years for non-existent chronic pancreatitis or dysbiosis, prescribing unjustified treatment with enzyme preparations or antibiotics.
Functional diarrhea is one of the variants of the course of irritable bowel syndrome. This syndrome is defined as a functional disease (that is, a disease that is not based on general or local organic pathology), characterized by severe pain, usually decreasing after defecation, flatulence, a feeling of incomplete bowel movement or an imperative urge to defecate.
Different variants of the course of irritable bowel syndrome are characterized by different symptoms of impaired stool frequency: constipation, frequent bowel movements, or alternating constipation with diarrhea.
Functional diarrhea, as well as other variants of irritable bowel syndrome, is characterized by the absence of so-called anxiety symptoms - fever, unmotivated weight loss, increased ESR, anemia - indicating the presence of severe organic pathology.
In the complete absence of objective indicators indicating a serious organic lesion, attention is drawn to the abundance of various subjective complaints. Patients feel pain in the joints, sacrum and spine, and are tormented by paroxysmal migraine-type headaches. In addition, patients with functional diarrhea complain of a feeling of a lump in the throat, the inability to sleep on the left side, a feeling of lack of air, etc.
With functional diarrhea, there is a slight increase in stool frequency (up to 2-4 times a day); there are no pathological impurities (blood, mucus, pus) in the stool. A characteristic sign of this type of diarrhea is the urge to defecate most often appear in the morning and in the first half of the day.
Among patients with irritable bowel syndrome, the vast majority are women in the age category of 30-40 years. The disease can last for years without significant dynamics towards improvement or worsening. The long course of the disease affects the neuropsychic status of patients (phobias and depression may occur), which increases the symptoms of irritable bowel disease - a so-called vicious circle is formed.
Attending doctor: gastroenterologist, neurologist.
Before use, you should consult a specialist.They usually prefer to remain silent about this, regardless of the importance of the issue. In the article you will find a complete description of all the characteristics of the chair and learn about your weak points in gastrointestinal tract, which we didn’t even suspect!
“Blessed is he who has a bowel movement early in the morning without being forced:
He likes food and all other pleasures.”
A.S. Pushkin
It is said brilliantly in Pushkin’s style: elegant, ironic, life-truthful. I propose to discuss this topic, smoothly moving from poetry to the prose of life. Moreover, this prose is a vital criterion for our well-being and ability to enjoy being.
Stool or feces- this is the contents of the lower parts of the large intestine, which is the end product of digestion and is excreted from the body during bowel movements. Individual stool characteristics can tell a lot about a person's health and help in making a diagnosis. To do this, a scatological study is carried out (“scatology” translated from Greek means “the science of feces”). The feces are looked at under a microscope and the leukocytes and red blood cells in it are counted, and the amount of fat, mucus, and undigested fibers is determined.
In everyday life, any of us also sometimes need to take a look at what we usually try to quickly flush down the drain.
So, watching your stool is a way to monitor your own health. Everything is important here: the frequency of bowel movements, the daily amount of feces, its density, color, shape and smell. Let us analyze all interpretations of stool quality in normal conditions and in pathology in more detail.
1. Number of bowel movements.
NORM: regular bowel movements once or twice a day with a strong urge to defecate and without pain. After defecation, the urge disappears, a feeling of comfort and complete bowel movement occurs. Ideally, stool should be in the morning, a few minutes after waking up.
PATHOLOGY: absence of bowel movements for more than 48 hours (constipation) or too frequent bowel movements - up to 5 times or more per day (diarrhea). Violation of the frequency of bowel movements is a symptom of a disease and requires consultation with a doctor (gastroenterologist, infectious disease specialist or proctologist).
Diarrhea or diarrhea is the result of stool passing too quickly through the large intestine, where most of the water is absorbed. Loose stools can be caused by many factors, including stomach viruses and food poisoning. It can also result from food allergies and intolerances, such as lactose intolerance.
2. Daily amount of feces.
NORM: With a mixed diet, the daily amount of feces fluctuates within a fairly wide range and averages 150-400 g. Thus, when eating predominantly plant foods, the amount of feces increases, and in an animal that is poor in “ballast” substances, it decreases.
CHANGES: a significant increase (more than 400 g) or decrease in the amount of feces.
Abnormally large excretion of feces from the body for at least three days, polyfecalia, can be caused by diseases of the stomach, intestines, liver, gall bladder and biliary tract, pancreas, as well as malabsorption syndrome (impaired absorption of digested food in the intestines).
The reasons for the decrease in the amount of feces may be constipation, when, due to prolonged retention of feces in the large intestine and maximum absorption of water, the volume of feces decreases, or the predominance of easily digestible foods in the diet.
3. Passing feces and floating in water.
NORMAL: soft sinking of stool to the bottom of the toilet.
CHANGES: If there is insufficient dietary fiber in food (less than 30 grams per day), feces are released quickly and splash into the toilet water.
If stool floats or is difficult to flush with cold water from the walls of the toilet, this indicates that it contains an increased amount of gases or contains too much undigested or undigested fat. The reason for this may be chronic pancreatitis, malabsorption, celiac disease (a dysfunction of the small intestine associated with a deficiency of enzymes that break down the gluten peptide). But! Stool can float even if you eat a lot of fiber.
4. Color of stool.
NORM: With a mixed diet, the stool is brown.
CHANGES: Dark brown - for a meat diet, constipation, impaired digestion in the stomach, colitis, putrefactive dyspepsia.
Light brown - with a dairy-vegetable diet, increased intestinal motility.
Light yellow - with a dairy diet, diarrhea or impaired bile secretion (cholecystitis).
Reddish - when eating beets, when bleeding from the lower intestines (hemorrhoids, anal fissures, intestinal polyposis, ulcerative colitis).
Green - with a large amount of spinach, lettuce, sorrel in food; with dysbacteriosis, increased intestinal motility.
Tarry or black - when eating blueberries or black currants; with bleeding from the upper gastrointestinal tract (peptic ulcer, cirrhosis, colon cancer), with ingestion of blood during nosebleeds or pulmonary bleeding.
Greenish-black - when taking iron supplements.
Grayish-white stool means that bile is not entering the intestines (bile duct blockage, acute pancreatitis, hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver).
5. Density and shape of feces.
NORM: Normally, feces consists of 70% water, 30% of processed food residues, dead bacteria and desquamated intestinal cells and has a cylindrical shape in the form of a soft round sausage. But! A large amount of plant foods in the diet makes the stool thick and mushy.
Normally, feces should not contain blood, mucus, pus, or undigested food residues!
CHANGES:
Pasty stool– with increased intestinal motility, increased secretion in the intestine during inflammation.
Very dense feces (sheep)- for constipation, colitis, spasms and stenosis of the colon.
ointment-like– for diseases of the pancreas (chronic pancreatitis), a sharp decrease in the flow of bile into the intestines (cholelithiasis, cholecystitis).
Liquid– in case of impaired digestion of food in the small intestine, impaired absorption and accelerated passage of feces.
Foamy- with fermentative dyspepsia, when fermentation processes in the intestines prevail over all others.
Band-like stool- for diseases accompanied by stenosis or severe and prolonged spasm of the sigmoid or rectum; for rectal cancer.
When the stool has a liquid consistency and frequent bowel movements, one speaks of diarrhea.
Liquid-mushy or watery stools can occur with high water consumption.
Curdish, foamy stools, like rising leaven, indicate the presence of yeast.
Thin (pencil-shaped) stools may be a sign of polyposis or a growing colon tumor.
6. The smell of feces.
NORM: unpleasant, but not annoying.
CHANGES: The smell depends on the composition of the food (a sharp smell comes from meat food, a sour smell from dairy food) and the severity of the processes of fermentation and rotting.
Sour smell It also happens with fermentative dyspepsia, which is caused by excessive consumption of carbohydrates (sugar, flour products) and fermented drinks, such as kvass.
Fetid- in case of impaired pancreatic function (pancreatitis), decreased flow of bile into the intestines (cholecystitis), hypersecretion of the large intestine. Very foul-smelling stool may be due to bacterial overgrowth. Some bacteria produce hydrogen sulfide, which has a characteristic rotten odor.
Putrefactive– in case of indigestion in the stomach, putrefactive dyspepsia associated with excessive consumption of protein products that are slowly digested in the intestines, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease.
Faint odor- for constipation or accelerated evacuation from the small intestine.
7. Intestinal gases.
NORM: Gases are formed due to the work of microorganisms that make up the natural intestinal flora. During and outside of bowel movements, 0.2-0.5 liters of gas are removed from the intestines of an adult per day. It is considered normal to release gas up to 10-12 times (but in general, the less, the better).
Normally, an increase in the amount of gases can be caused by eating the following foods: large amounts of carbohydrates (sugar, baked goods); products containing a lot of fiber (cabbage, apples, legumes, etc.), products that stimulate fermentation processes (brown bread, kvass, beer); dairy products for lactose intolerance; carbonated drinks.
PATHOLOGY: Flatulence, excessive accumulation of gases in the intestines (up to 3 liters), may indicate the development of certain diseases, namely: intestinal dysbiosis, chronic pancreatitis, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic intestinal diseases (enteritis, colitis), gastritis, gastric ulcer and duodenum, chronic liver diseases (cholecystitis, hepatitis, cirrhosis), intestinal obstruction.
