Diarrhea: Overview

Diarrhoea is a clinical symptom characterised by an increase in the volume, wateriness, or frequency of bowel movements. Diarrhoea can be osmotic, secretory, malabsorptive, exudative, due to abnormal intestinal motility, or due to bacterial overgrowth. In osmotic diarrhoea, for example, the gut mucosa fails to absorb intestinal contents into the blood stream resulting in accumulation of these substances in intestinal lumen. Subsequently, excessive amount of water remains in stool leading to diarrhoea. This book presents research on various types of diarrhoea, as well as their causes and the available treatments. See more