As soon as a person begins to feel insufficiently well, it becomes necessary to take stool and urine tests. The fact is that a change in the color of feces can tell about many diseases. If there are malfunctions in the digestive system, then you should immediately go to the doctor, and the color of the feces can serve as a clue, especially if it turns green.
Causes of green stools
Bilirubin fat-soluble compounds are responsible for the coloring of feces, which are part of bile and enter the intestine along with it. If the speed of food moving through the intestines is normal, then these bilirubin compounds have time to oxidize and turn brown.
When pathological changes occur in the digestive process, unoxidized bilirubin comes out and green feces appear. Naturally, there are enough reasons for color changes, but there are main reasons:
- The first reason lies in eating a large number of foods that containiron in it. Examples include fruits and vegetables, red fish, beans, colored drinks, medications, and vitamins.
- Pathogenic factors that are directly related to pathological disorders in the gastrointestinal tract are not excluded. As a rule, green stool can be caused by food poisoning, chronic intestinal inflammation, intestinal flu, food allergies.
It should be noted that any inflammatory process will cause severe pain in the intestines.
Symptoms
Parents should be aware that sometimes green feces in a child can be considered normal, but this is only when the child is not more than three months old and he eats exclusively breast milk. In all other cases, this may be due to pathology. Young parents should pay attention not only to the color of feces, but also to the consistency. In adults, everything is different, so you should sound the alarm when these symptoms begin to appear:
- A person has no appetite for a long time.
- Gagging may occur, there is nausea and heaviness in the stomach, sometimes there are pulling pains.
- Body temperature changes.
With such symptoms, it is not at all necessary that the feces change their color, but in any case, you need to contact a specialist who can diagnose and establish the cause of the abnormalities.
Causes of feces with green mucus
If green stool occurs, the causes may be due tomany factors:
- First of all, infections can enter the intestines. The feces will be accompanied by mucus and have a green tint.
- The color of feces changes even in the case when a complex violation of all parts of the gastrointestinal tract is manifested. In this case, a person can observe a change in feces throughout the month, and many negative symptoms will also appear, which cannot be ignored.
- Green stool may appear if a person has had hemorrhoids for a long time.
- The color of feces changes when there are prerequisites for the formation of tumors and polyps. Then the discharge from the anus can not only be green, but also be yellowish.
- The color of feces may change due to the fact that there are congenital pathologies, but in this case one should not be surprised, since, most likely, such manifestations have already been.
- A gene mutation is not excluded, which appears due to atrophy of the intestinal walls.
Any reason requires careful examination by a doctor, especially since due to the very thick mucus, feces can generally turn gray-green.
Why does feces turn yellow-green?
Green feces cannot be normal in an adult. Most likely, the problem is the failure of the processes of absorption and digestion of carbohydrates. Sometimes feces can be yellowish, this is due to the fact that enzymes cannot cope with their direct duties, fermentation begins in the intestines, andstools of this shade are formed. For a small child, this color is considered the norm, so parents should not sound the alarm. Experts most often advise in this case to change the diet and include other foods in the diet. If the color changes, it means that there were those nutrients in the diet that are not quite suitable for the body.
Causes of green stool in a baby
First of all, it is important to pay attention to the features of the manifestation of greenish stool in the baby. If the baby is very small, then the green feces in the child is considered the norm, this is due to adaptation to life. Parents should pay attention that during breastfeeding, feces do not have an unpleasant odor, but if the child is on an artificial type of feeding, then, in addition to green, an unpleasant odor can also be observed. The color of the feces can change if the baby begins to erupt teeth, but this does not happen in all children, so parents should be attentive to the he alth of their baby.
When adults begin to observe not only green feces in a child, but also a deterioration in the general condition, then immediate diagnosis is required. The little man can suffer from dehydration, which occurs due to diarrhea. The causes are hidden in the following diseases:
- Dysentery or salmonellosis.
- Escherichiosis enters the body in large quantities.
- Intestinal dysbiosis may develop.
It is possible to identify such pathologies only after a thorough diagnosis.
What to do when stool appearsgreen?
Many are interested in what it means if the stool is green, and how to act when it is detected. First of all, it is necessary to identify the cause of the manifestation of such a symptom. If a person feels normal and does not show any additional symptoms, then it is enough to simply adjust the diet and exclude foods that can cause changes in feces, sometimes the problem is hidden in taking medication.
When a person feels discomfort and his general condition worsens, you should immediately call a doctor.
How does salmonellosis manifest itself?
Salmonellosis is a dangerous disease that occurs as a result of infection entering the human body. In just a few minutes, the patient can feel the first symptoms. A person begins to have profuse diarrhea, green feces appear, the stomach hurts, and over time, dehydration of the body may occur, leading to infectious toxic shock. Naturally, with such symptoms, it is necessary to call an ambulance, and before the arrival of qualified doctors, provide first aid:
- The patient will need to drink a large amount of sorbents. In this case, activated charcoal or modern preparations, such as Atoxil, are perfect.
- A person should drink plenty of water, preferably plain water without impurities.
Do not self-medicate, because in most cases withoutsalmonellosis ends with a lethal outcome.
Diagnosis
Green feces in an adult most often indicates serious illness, so careful diagnosis is required. The examination is divided into laboratory and instrumental, it all depends on the clinical picture. Diagnostic methods can be as follows:
- Complete blood count.
- Urine analysis.
- Biochemical blood test.
- Studies of feces and vomit for bacteria.
- Examination of internal organs in progress.
- Colonoscopy and gastroscopy are mandatory.
- Abdomen MRI.
What tests the patient will have to take, only the doctor sets after collecting an anamnesis.
How to treat green stool?
When a person has green feces, the reasons can be very diverse. Before starting treatment, the specialist will not only determine the cause, but also take into account the general condition of the patient. If salmonellosis is detected, then the patient is necessarily hospitalized. Patients who are in serious condition can be urgently operated on or even placed in an intensive care unit. Basically, the treatment consists of diets, taking antibacterial drugs, droppers and medications that are aimed at eliminating symptoms. In most cases, conservative treatment is carried out, and surgical intervention is less often required.
Features of treatment
When there is a symptom like green stool,treatment cannot do without the patient taking probiotics. Tablets are available in the form of capsules or powder. If food poisoning is observed, then it is worth neutralizing the negative consequences with the help of activated charcoal. It should be noted that this tool is absolutely harmless, and it can be used in different cases, it is recommended even for children. Often women are faced with the fact that green feces appear during pregnancy, in which case activated charcoal can also be used, it will not negatively affect the development of the fetus, and the he alth of mother and baby will be safe. Of course, only an experienced doctor can prescribe drugs, so it’s unlikely that you can cope without the help of a specialist. In the treatment, the drug "Regidron" is used. It is prescribed if the patient is vomiting. As soon as the stool returns to normal, the treatment can be considered completed. Patients are given control tests, which are likely to show the norm.
Disease prevention
When the main symptom is green stool, the disease can be serious and should be treated immediately. But few people know that there are preventive measures that are not so difficult to follow. First of all, you should normalize your diet, stick to a diet, but it should be complete, and also avoid all kinds of food poisoning. As a preventive measure, you should undergo examinations of the whole body at least once a year to identify some diseases in the initial stages.
Don't get too carried away ifThe symptoms go away on their own after a while. This does not mean that the disease has disappeared and will no longer bother. It can return with renewed vigor and with more severe consequences, so a visit to a specialist and an examination are inevitable. The sooner the doctor can detect abnormalities in the work of the gastrointestinal tract, the more effective the treatment will be with minimal costs without surgical intervention.
