Diarrhea

Diarrhea is a one of the conditions that are noted to be threatening to humankind. The disease causes disorders in the alimentary canal of human beings resulting to poor absorption of after thus resulting to very loose stool. This paper will discuss the pathogenesis of diarrhea and the mechanisms involved and things to evaluate from patients with are signs.
Question 1
Diarrhea is the condition in which a person evacuates of too fluidly stools. Pathogenesis of diarrhea can be said to be a condition where a person evacuates very loose stools due to microbial determinants such as Salmonella serotypes, rotavirus, Campylobacter, Yersinia species among many others (Katz, 2006).
Question 2. Mechanisms of diarrhea include
Osmotic diarrhea
Absorption of water in the intestines depends on the adequacy of absorption of solutes. In case high amounts of solutes are retained in the intestinal lumen, water will not be absorbed and this results in diarrhea (Sweetser, 2012). Osmotic diarrhea results from two conditions
1. Ingestion of poorly absorbed absorbable substrates that are usually carbohydrates or divalent ion. Common examples of this are mannitol, sorbitol, Epson salt and some of the antacids.
2. Malabsorption that is the inability to absorb some carbohydrates is the common deficit in the diarrhea type although it can result from any type of malabsorption. A common example of malabsorption is lactose intolerance that results from the deficiency of the brush border enzyme lactase.

In these cases, lactose fails to be fully hydrolyzed into glucose or galactose. The retained lactose holds water in the rumen causing diarrhea (Katz, 2006).
Secretory Diarrhea
Large amounts of water are usually produced in the small intestine, but the water is absorbed before it reaches the large intestines. Sometimes, however, the secretion of water may exceed the absorption rate that results in diarrhea. This is commonly associated with cholera and has claimed many lives (Halmos, 2013).Things that can cause this diarrhea type are exposure to bacterial toxins, some laxatives, and hormones from some tumor types, broad range, certain metals, organic toxins and some plant product. This type comes at most after three days from the intake.
Motility
For nutrients and water to be absorbed efficiently, the intestinal contents must be adequately exposed to the mucosal epithelium and then retained long enough so as to allow absorption (Halmos, 2013). Disorders of motility accelerate transits time that decreases absorption thus resulting in diarrhea.
Question 3
With the limited information, some information will be required of the patient. This will include the food and other intakes which the person has been taken in the recent past. It is also important that the person explains if he or she had cases of attack by some bacteria in the past (Katz, 2006). This is because some types of bacteria like Salmonella typhi may fail to heal completely causing infection sometime after the original infection and treatment. This would determine the cause of diarrhea. For instance consumption of some carbohydrates and ions would trigger the thought that they caused the infection. In case the person had suffered from some bacteria in the past, they can be the same that failed to heal causing the problem again thus testing for the same bacteria would be appropriate (Sweetser, 2012). One should also question of prior medication since some may enter the right diagnoses. She could also be questioned in case of other cases of infection in her family or neighborhood as that could indicate a bacterial outbreak.
Question 4
Diarrhea resulting from infection by digestive bacteria or parasite is said to be infectious. This results in frequent and watery stools, fever, chills, abdominal pains, anorexia, vomiting, malaise, myalgia among others (Halmos, 2013). Chronic diarrhea results when there are cases of damage to the mucosal lining or even the brush border that leads to passive loss of protein-rich fluids and decreased the ability to absorb fluids. This is characterized by fever, blood in stool, left lower quadrant cramps, nausea, sweating and urgency.
Conclusion
Diarrhea is caused by either pathogens or food substances which cause problems in reabsorption of water thus resulting to increased amount of water in the alimentary canal thus causing the production of very loose stool. A Proper examination of patients can be useful in giving appropriate medications.
References
Katz, J. (2006). Probiotics for the Prevention of Antibiotic-associated Diarrhea and Clostridium difficile Diarrhea. Journal Of Clinical Gastroenterology, 40(3), 249-255. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00004836-200603000-00017Halmos, E. (2013). Role of FODMAP content in enteral nutrition-associated diarrhea. J Gastroenterol Hepatol, 28, 25-28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jgh.12272Sweetser, S. (2012). Evaluating the Patient with Diarrhea: A Case-Based Approach. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 87(6), 596-602. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2012.02.015