What is Diarrhea and How to Deal With It?

After common cold, diarrhea is number 2 most common ailment in the world. What is diarrhea or frequent passing of loose and watery stool is a symptom of an underlying disease but not a disease itself. Anyone at any age can get diarrhea. The average adult encounters it about four times a year.

It generally is an out come of food poising. The temporary looseness of stools can be due to over consumption of laxative foods like prunes

In many cases it can be caused without any examinable reason. As long as the condition improves with in a couple of days it is not a cause of concern.

More than 5 billion cases of diarrhea occur every year throughout the world. Though, it can cause death due to dehydration in malnourished people in some developing nations but it is usually not as dangerous in case of affluent and well nourished society.

So diarrhea has a major impact on global health and is highly correlated with nutritional status. It is an important area of focus because it can be significantly reduced by appropriate interventions and treatment.

In cases of babies and elderly people it can be life threatening so special care should be taken.

It is a major cause of death in the developing world where the effect is greatest among the young. According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates about 3.5 million deaths a year are caused by diarrhea. 80 percent of these deaths are children under the age of five (majority six months and three years of age).

Poor nutritional status according to various studies, can double the risk of contracting diarrhea when exposed to an infectious agent. In addition the duration and acuteness can increase to 3 times than normal in case of a mal nourished child.

In many developing countries death from diarrhea have been prevented by World Health Organization (WHO) recommended home made remedies for diarrhea.

Learn more about causes, symptoms, prevention methods and home remedies for diarrhea in the other related articles:

What is Diarrhea and How to Deal With It?

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