What is the difference between diarrhea and loose stools?

Some people always think that diarrhea and diarrhea are not the same, and that diarrhea is more serious than diarrhea. In fact, diarrhea is also called diarrhea. These are two names for the same disease, and there is no difference between the two. Diarrhea includes two types: acute diarrhea and chronic diarrhea. The causes of the two are different, and the treatment methods are of course different. Patients must treat the disease according to their condition.

1. Causes of acute diarrhea

(1) Infections include intestinal infections caused by viruses (rotavirus, Norwalk virus, Coxsackie virus, echovirus, etc.), bacteria (Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Shigella, Shigella dysenteriae, Vibrio cholerae) or parasites (Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia).

(2) Food poisoning, such as eating uncooked lentils, poisonous mushroom poisoning, puffer fish poisoning, heavy metal poisoning, pesticide poisoning, etc.

(3) Laxatives, choleretics, digitalis drugs, etc.

(4) Other diseases: acute exacerbation of ulcerative colitis, acute necrotizing enterocolitis, food allergy, etc.

2. Causes of chronic diarrhea

The causes of chronic diarrhea are more complicated than those of acute diarrhea. Lesions of the intestinal mucosa itself, excessive bacterial growth in the small intestine, defects in intestinal transport function, insufficient digestive capacity, intestinal motility disorders, certain endocrine diseases and extraintestinal tumors may all lead to the occurrence of chronic diarrhea. Conditions that can cause chronic diarrhea include:

(1) Intestinal infectious diseases: ① Chronic amoebic dysentery; ② Chronic bacterial diseases; ③ Intestinal tuberculosis; ④ Giardiasis, schistosomiasis; ⑤ Intestinal candidiasis.

(2) Non-infectious intestinal inflammation: ① Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis); ② Radiation enteritis; ③ Ischemic colitis; ④ Diverticulitis; ⑤ Uremic enteritis.

(3) Tumors: ① Colorectal cancer; ② Colon adenoma (polyp); ③ Malignant lymphoma of the small intestine; ④ Amine precursor uptake decarboxylation cell tumor, gastrinoma, carcinoid, intestinal vasoactive intestinal polypeptide tumor, etc.

(4) Small intestinal malabsorption ① Primary small intestinal malabsorption; ② Secondary small intestinal malabsorption.

(5) Intestinal motility diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome

(6) Gastric, hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases: ① Subtotal gastrectomy with gastrojejunostomy; ② Atrophic gastritis; ③ Chronic hepatitis; ④ Cirrhosis; ⑤ Chronic pancreatitis; ⑥ Chronic cholecystitis.

(7) Systemic diseases: ① Hyperthyroidism; ② Diabetes mellitus; ③ Chronic adrenocortical insufficiency; ④ Systemic lupus erythematosus; ⑤ Niacin deficiency; ⑥ Food and drug allergies.