Dark green callas are a sign of what an adult has. Why green feces in children and adults: treatment features

Green feces can appear due to various reasons. For example, green poop may occur due to nutrition, namely the consumption of certain foods that provoke stool color. Also, this phenomenon may be associated with some diseases that cause malfunctions in the functioning of vital systems. In any case, you must always be on the alert, know the causes and treatment of such a phenomenon.

Important! It is possible to know exactly the true cause of the deviation only after the results of the relevant studies have been submitted and received.

If green feces were seen in an adult once, this does not mean that it is necessary to sound the alarm. Often the color changes due to the foods eaten. For example, with excessive consumption of certain cereals that are difficult for the body to digest, the stool can turn green, and this phenomenon persists for several days.

For the digestion of cereals with a dense shell, the body needs to produce bile in large quantities so that the process of splitting food is more productive. The enzyme contributes to this, and a greenish stool is released.

Some products contain special pigments that can change the color of the excrement. This factor is associated with an excess of iron in food. Therefore, this phenomenon should not be regarded as a disease.

Color can be affected by:

Frequent consumption of spinach, cucumbers, sorrel, lettuce, dill, and other foods that have a pronounced green color.
Eating caramels, marmalade and other foods that contain high levels of food coloring in their composition. Because of them, even feces that have a dark green color can appear.
If the products contain chlorophyll, the color of the stool also changes. After eating seaweed, this phenomenon can persist for up to 3 days.
Red meat, fish, red beans in some cases also contribute to the staining of feces.

Pigments tend to persist in the human body for up to 5 days. That is, it is possible that even after a person stops eating all of the above foods, the color of feces will still remain unchanged.

Important: If an adult notes that he has green poop, while the phenomenon is accompanied by mucus secretions, then this becomes an occasion to think about his health. This symptom may already signal that there are malfunctions in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

The causes of green stools are usually divided into two classifications:

physiological;
pathological.

Let's consider them more specifically.

Physiological causes

Excrement in this case changes its color as a result of the consumption of certain products by a person - this has already been written above. This does not threaten health, but in any case, any adult should know exactly after which products the stool can change its color. If the products contain coloring substances (for example, iron) - all this affects the color.

Dark green stools in a person can appear with the use of dietary supplements and certain pharmacological preparations. Let's list them:

laxative teas, capsules, the composition of which is of plant origin;
medicines containing iodine;
glucose, sorbitol, etc.;
complexes of minerals, as well as vitamins;
preparations containing seaweed.

In this case, the causes of green feces are obvious, and such a condition does not threaten human health.

Pathological causes

Sometimes it happens that the green color of feces appears as a result of some pathologies. If an adult notes that the phenomenon is accompanied by high fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, it is necessary to contact a specialist as soon as possible to make a diagnosis. Only an experienced gastroenterologist can answer exactly the question - why did the stool appear greenish after receiving the results of the tests passed by the patient.

Important: If you noted that black-green feces appeared, while foods that could change its color were not eaten, you cannot engage in self-diagnosis! It is necessary to go to the hospital as soon as possible, as this condition can be dangerous.

We list the main diseases that are accompanied by this pathology:

Crohn's disease.
Infectious diseases - for example, enterocolitis. In this case, the stool will not only change color, but it will also be possible to note impurities of blood or mucus.
Internal bleeding. If it is not strong, the patient may notice that the stool has a black-green tint. If the bleeding is heavy, then the excrement becomes black.
Allergy to certain foods. In this case, it can be noted that parts of undigested food with mucus are present in the stool, respectively, and feces in adults (its color) also change.
With a stomach ulcer, this phenomenon can also be noted.
Rotavirus infection. Requires immediate treatment to the infectious diseases hospital, especially if the child has symptoms. Symptoms are as follows: feces with mucus impurities are released, it has an unpleasant odor. In this case, the general condition deteriorates sharply, symptoms of intoxication appear.

If green poop has been noted, while there are accompanying symptoms, you should not delay going to the doctor.

Possible complications and diseases

Dysentery. This disease may be accompanied by symptoms:

hyperthermia;
temperature increase;
nausea;
feeling of weakness;
vomit;
severe abdominal pain.

If green feces in an adult persist for several days for no apparent reason, and the above symptoms appear, an infectious disease specialist should be consulted. If the phenomenon is accompanied by a putrid odor, a sharp weight loss, diarrhea - this state of affairs already indicates the presence of E. coli and other pathological microorganisms.

Dysbacteriosis. It occurs not only in children, but also in adults. Accompanied by belching, bloating, upset stool. Increased gas formation and green stools in an adult are also present. All these symptoms are caused by a violation of the microflora. As a result, beneficial microorganisms gradually die, they are replaced by pathogenic microflora. In the process of exacerbation of the disease, a high number of leukocytes is observed. As a result of these changes, the intestines cannot digest food normally. This provokes its fermentation and decay. Components are released that provoke the appearance of green poop.

Intestinal infections. Cholera, dysentery - all these diseases are considered infectious. In any case, the patient will have a high fever, and nausea, accompanied by vomiting. The person is weakened, there are pains in the abdomen, aches all over the body, headache, chills, etc.

internal bleeding. It occurs due to an exacerbation of peptic ulcer, or when oncological neoplasms appear in one of the sections of the gastrointestinal tract. The process of iron oxidation starts after the blood enters the stomach. If the masses are not completely oxidized, in this case there will be the appearance of green feces. Standard bleeding symptoms: decrease in blood pressure, blanching of the skin, severe shortness of breath, tachycardia. This condition can threaten the life of the patient.

Hepatitis. All pathological processes, closely related to liver diseases, lead to massive decomposition of red blood cells. In this case, the liver does not have enough hemoglobin, as a result of which bilirubin begins to be produced. This pigment contributes to the appearance of a greenish tint in the feces. The same phenomenon is sometimes observed in diseases of the blood.

Allergy. It often happens that a person has a food allergy - that is, some foods are intolerable to the body. This factor causes the development of an inflammatory process, as a result of which a green stool is released.

All of the above diseases require a mandatory consultation with a doctor, since such conditions can not only harm health, but in some cases even threaten a person's life.

What diagnostic measures are prescribed

If a greenish stool appears in an adult, the doctor will prescribe examinations and studies without fail.

After deciphering the stool tests in an adult, the doctor prescribes treatment. It will directly depend on the cause of the deviation, the scheme for each patient is selected separately.

If color changes were provoked by food, it is enough just to review your diet. Eat greens, cucumbers in smaller quantities, do not abuse cereals and red meat, refuse foods that contain a large amount of dyes. Do not forget that greenish stool will persist for some time. In order to remove harmful substances from the body, you can take Atoxil, Smecta, Regidron, etc.

If an adult has green feces, the causes of this phenomenon may be different, and without passing the appropriate tests they cannot be determined. Deviation from the norm may indicate an infectious disease - in this case, self-medication is strictly contraindicated.

If you notice that the feces have become greenish, while there is a high temperature, diarrhea and weakness, you need to know what to do in such situations. Diarrhea causes the body to become dehydrated. The consistency and volume of blood changes, minerals and salts are washed out - all this leads to the fact that the patient will feel even worse. In order to restore losses, one teaspoon of sugar and salt should be added to each liter of water.

If the patient has vomiting and green stools, the stomach must be washed out in order to free it from food. To do this, a large amount of warm boiled water is drunk until the urge to vomit appears (you can make a very weak solution of potassium permanganate).

If the patient has not only greenish feces, but also vomiting, he needs to refuse food altogether for a while. In principle, if there are such symptoms, you need to follow a clear diet. In no case should you prescribe yourself a treatment on your own, especially, take various drugs. With dysbacteriosis, for example, you can significantly aggravate the picture.

Do not neglect your health, consult a doctor at the first symptoms that bother you!

The color of human feces depends on many factors. This includes the diet, and the activity of the gastrointestinal tract, and the use of drugs. Normal stool color varies from light to dark brown. It is the brown shade of feces that indicates the health of the gastrointestinal tract. In particular, we are talking about the normal secretion of bile in an adult. Why does it turn black, green or yellow? When should I be concerned, and when can discoloration of feces be attributed to nutrition?

What determines the color of feces

Feces are the product of processing food into the body and is formed after the passage of the latter through the digestive tract. Nutrients are absorbed along this route and are available after complex digestive processing, mainly in the stomach and intestines. This process produces non-metabolizable waste that forms feces.

Physiologically, they are brown, because the bile that enters the intestine from the liver is metabolized by the bacterial flora and turns into bilirubin, and then into stercobilin, which gives the feces a brown color.

Causes of discoloration of feces

Thus, under normal conditions, feces are brown in color from light to dark. The indicated color may differ in some cases and this situation is not always a sign of a painful condition. The color of feces, in fact, closely depends on some factors, namely:

Consumed products. Some foods, especially rich in natural dyes, which are unchanged in the digestive tract, are excreted in the feces, giving it their color. Several examples can be given. All green leafy vegetables such as broccoli are rich in chlorophyll, which can turn stools green. Beets are rich in beta-carotene, which can cause dark red stools.
Reception of dyes. Food coloring can be found in some foods. For example, Curaçao blue, which has an intense blue color, is used to make cocktails, and ferric ferricyanide (also blue) is used as a drug to treat heavy metal poisoning such as cesium.
Functionality of the gastrointestinal tract. On the way between the mouth and anus, food, as already mentioned, undergoes a series of mechanical and chemical transformations under the action of digestive juices, enzymes and bacteria. Violations of the coherence of the work of this digestive chain often leads to a change in the color of feces.
Diseases. Some diseases can cause changes in the physiological concentration of enzymes and juices, which are necessary for the processes of digestion and, therefore, determine changes in the composition and color of feces. Such changes may be the result, for example, of bleeding from the wall of the stomach and / or intestines.

Based on medical practice, the following stool colors may occur: brown, yellow, green, white / clay-gray, black, red.

Yellow stool

When the stool turns yellow, it indicates the abundant presence of undigested fats. This presence is due to:

Diseases of the pancreas, which reduce the concentration of enzymes in the intestines. An example of such diseases is chronic pancreatitis, which is usually a consequence of alcohol abuse. There is also the possibility of blockage of the duct through which pancreatic enzymes are excreted into the intestine, which is almost always caused by a tumor.
Malabsorption disease. A typical example is celiac disease (gluten intolerance), which interferes with nutrient absorption, causing bloating, diarrhea, and discoloration of the stool. The consequences of such diseases are especially severe in children and adolescents.

Green stool

Green stools can have both pathological and non-pathological causes.

Non-pathological include:

Active consumption of foods rich in chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is a green pigment found in all plants. Among the plants used for nutrition, all green leafy vegetables such as spinach and broccoli, as well as arugula and parsley, are especially rich in chlorophyll.
Diarrhea is not of pathological etiology. Diarrhea shortens the transit time of intestinal contents. In bile, in addition to bilirubin, there is its precursor biliverdin, which has an intense green color. In the intestines, under the action of enzymes and bacteria, it is converted to bilirubin, and then to stercobilin. If the transit is too fast (diarrhea effect), then the transformation cannot take place and biliverdin turns the stool green. The most common non-pathological causes of diarrhea are antibiotics, excess non-ferrous metals, etc.

Pathological causes include celiac disease, intestinal inflammation and tumors. Green color of the stool can also indicate problems with the liver. With the massive breakdown of red blood cells in the liver, a large amount of a substance is produced from their hemoglobin - the so-called bilirubin, which then enters the intestine and can give the feces a green or darker, up to dark brown, color.

Stools are white or gray-clay in color

A significant measure on the color of excrement is influenced by food. The sudden light color of the bowel movements can be caused by the abundant consumption of fatty foods (butter, sour cream). Potatoes and white rice can have the same properties if you eat a lot of them the day before and without adding other products. If the diet consisted more of meat food, and you suddenly ate a large amount of vegetable matter, then the feces will become much lighter. When changing the shade, first of all, remember your diet in previous days. Possibly food was the cause of this phenomenon.

There are a number of medications that can cause feces to clear up. These include:

antibiotics;
anti-inflammatory drugs;
antipyretics (Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Paracetamol);
antifungal agents;
drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis;
drugs for gout;
agents for the treatment of epilepsy.

If you have undergone such an examination as an X-ray of the gastrointestinal tract or other procedures in which you need to take barium sulfate, then 2-3 days after the stool will brighten very sharply. When the barium is completely eliminated from the body, the excrement will return to its normal color.

The gray color of the stool in combination with the urine of the color of "strong tea" is an alarming sign of the acute phase of hepatitis. Inflammation of the liver leads to a violation of the function of bile formation, which causes whitening of the stool. With hepatitis, the bilirubin produced by the body is excreted through the kidneys and skin, so the urine becomes dark and the skin yellow.

Such a case suggests a lack or absence of bile in the intestines. Bile deficiency leads to a deficiency of bilirubin and, consequently, strecobilin, which determines the brown color of the stool. This situation may be due to blockage of the bile ducts or pancreatic duct. The reasons for this may be gallstones or pancreatic tumors.

Black stool

Possible causes of black stool:

Excessive consumption of licorice. Licorice is black in color and excessive consumption can stain excrement.
Taking iron supplements. They give the feces a black-gray color.
Therapy based on bismuth subsalicylate. Used to treat gastritis and abdominal pain. Turns black when combined with sulfur in saliva.
Bleeding of the upper gastrointestinal tract. Bleeding from the walls of the esophagus, stomach, and small intestine turns the stool black. The reason is that the blood has time to partially digest. The causes of bleeding can be ulcers and tumors.

Red stool

Why does stool turn red? Possible reasons include:

Excessive consumption of foods containing natural red dye, i.e. tomatoes, beets and red fruits.
Bleeding of the lower gastrointestinal tract. The reasons that can lead to bleeding are varied. Some of the possible ones are intestinal polyps, colon cancer, hemorrhoids and anal fissures.
If the stool is dark red/brick-colored, the bleeding is in the upper intestine just below the small intestine.

Symptoms associated with discoloration of feces

The symptomatology that accompanies a change in the color of feces, as a rule, depends on the reasons that led to this situation. There are many reasons, as we have seen. However, the most common symptoms are:

Diarrhea. Reduces intestinal transit time and is accompanied by green stools.
Stomach ache. May be associated with bleeding, which is most often accompanied by dark and tarry or red stools.
Weakness, dizziness and shortness of breath. As a result of anemia, which develops as a result of intestinal bleeding.
Jaundice. This disease is associated with blockage of the bile ducts and thus grayish-white stools.
Rumbling in the stomach and flatulence. Associated with malabsorption problems and therefore yellow and greasy stools.

Color of feces in children

In newborns, in the first three days, bowel movements differ from normal feces, which appear by the 4-5th day of life. When breastfeeding, feces have a golden yellow color due to the presence of bilirubin in it (from the 4th month, bilirubin is gradually replaced by stercobilin). When artificially fed with milk mixtures, it acquires a thicker texture, whitish color, stronger smell, alkaline reaction; its flora is diverse, E. coli predominates.

Depending on the age of the child, the nature of feeding, the functional state of the intestine, feces have their own characteristics. So:

when breastfeeding with breast milk containing a lot of water and few nutrients, the feces are yellow, watery, odorless.
when fed with insufficiently diluted cow's milk, the feces are silvery in color, glossy (soapy feces), soft, contain small lumps of mucus on the surface.
with predominantly protein feeding, the feces are dirty gray, mushy, with a sharp unpleasant odor (putrid feces).
when eating an excess of fatty foods or impaired absorption of fat, whitish stools (fatty stools), with a sour smell, a small amount of mucus.
with constipation, the feces are hard, gray in color, with a putrid odor.
with increased peristalsis and insufficient absorption of fat, the feces contain lumps of soap and an admixture of mucus (coagulated feces).
with starvation or malnutrition of a child who is breastfed, there is a "hungry feces" dark in color, sometimes liquid, with an unpleasant odor, having an alkaline reaction.

Fecal changes in children are also observed in various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract:

With overfeeding, nutritional errors, feeding that does not correspond to age, dyspeptic stools appear, frequent, plentiful, with mushy or watery foamy yellow-green stools containing white lumps of soaps and fatty acids, mucus.
With congenital atresia of the biliary tract, viral hepatitis, the feces are discolored, fatty, clayey (acholic feces).
With dysentery, the stool is thin, watery, contains mucus and blood.
With celiac disease, the feces are light yellow or grayish, shiny, frothy, mushy, extremely plentiful.
With cystic fibrosis, feces are plentiful, light, fetid, contain a lot of neutral fat.
Melena of newborns is characterized by liquid, dark, raspberry-colored feces.

When to See a Doctor

As we have seen, a change in the physiological color of feces is not always a disease; indeed, in many cases, there is a problem of nutrition, without any consequences. However, this symptom, in any case, should not be ignored, because it can indicate serious illnesses.

Particular attention should be paid to the symptoms accompanying the violation of the stool:

pain syndrome (in any area of the abdomen);
yellowness of the skin and icterus of the mucous membranes;
increased body temperature;
nausea and vomiting;
dark urine;
weight loss, loss of appetite;
bloating, an increase in the volume of the abdomen;
marked deterioration.

The identification of these symptoms is an indication for an immediate visit to the doctor and the passage of the necessary tests (bacteriological and biochemical analysis of feces, extended coprogram).

You should also contact your doctor without delay if:

The color change of feces is permanent.
Changes in the color of feces are periodically repeated, after periods of stagnation.

Diagnosis when changing the color of feces

Diagnosing the causes of faecal discoloration is often a lengthy and complex process. He suggests:

Anamnestic analysis.
Analysis of symptoms and signs.
Physical examination of the patient.
Blood tests, in particular, a complete blood count (to rule out anemia), a study of liver function, the level of pancreatic enzymes.
Fecal occult blood tests to check for any bleeding.
Esophagogastroduodenoscopy. A clinical examination using an endoscope allows you to examine the esophagus, stomach and duodenum from the inside.
Colonoscopy. The use of an endoscope can reveal polyps, injuries, or tumors inside the colon.
Sometimes a CT or MRI may be needed to confirm the diagnosis of a tumor lesion.

Given the heterogeneity of the causes that determine the color of the feces, it is impossible to specify a single remedy for the situation: therefore, first of all, we must determine the disease or habit that causes changes in the color of the feces.

If you find any changes in the stool, do not despair. You need to calmly figure everything out, and if necessary, resort to additional diagnostic methods (laboratory, instrumental studies) and the help of qualified specialists. They will be able to make a definitive diagnosis and prescribe effective treatment, if necessary.

Problems in children are perceived with the greatest trepidation, but fortunately, most often they are not serious. They consist in irrational nutrition, and for healing you just need to choose the right diet. And in good condition, only observation is enough, and after a few days the chair will recover on its own.

In adults, normal feces are usually colored brown, which is given to it by bile pigments. Depending on the amount of pigments, the color of the feces can vary widely from almost discolored, white to black.

The color of the feces can change with the use of various foods that have an intense color. Changes in the color of feces are of great diagnostic value, as this often occurs as a result of various pathological changes in the body.

In general, the appearance of green stools is an important cause for concern. After all, feces are in many ways a kind of indicator of the body's work, especially in children.

Why feces are green: causes in adults

What does this mean, and for what reasons does it appear? Most often, green feces appear in a perfectly healthy person for the simple reason that he eats many foods that contain green dyes. Such dyes are not digested in the stomach, but gradually begin to stain the feces itself in a dark green color. And the more dye was eaten, the more intense the color of the stool will be.

This color of feces can cause:

green leafy crops: lettuce, dill, onion, broccoli, savoy cabbage, spinach;
caramel with dye;
cereals and muesli;
sea fish and red meat;
Red beans;
black licorice;
fruit juices;
vegetable purees from a range of baby food.

However, this color of the stool also indicates diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Green feces can give diseases of the small intestine, dysbacteriosis, taking antibiotics for a long period of time. In this case, the disease is accompanied by an unpleasant putrefactive odor.

Dead leukocytes that accumulate in the intestines during an acute inflammatory process give a green tint to feces. If the patient has food in the small intestine, it is difficult to digest, which leads to putrefactive and fermentation processes in it and the formation of substances that color green feces in adults.

Why is the stool green: pathological causes

If we exclude the alimentary factor, then there are a number of other reasons due to which the green color of feces appears in adults. These factors may be associated with disorders of the intestines and other related organs and systems.

The most common ailments cause dark green stools, are:

food poisoning;
food allergy;
violation of the innervation of the intestine;
malabsorption syndrome;
internal bleeding;
intolerance to fructose and lactose;
thyrotoxicosis.

Sometimes this color of feces is observed in infectious inflammations and diseases, for example, in acute enterocolitis. In this case, the patient may also have vomiting and fever.

What to do?

If the feces have changed color due to the use of certain foods, medications or nutritional supplements, then specific treatment is not required. However, in all other cases, you should consult a doctor, especially if the green stool is accompanied by fever, diarrhea or constipation, weight loss and general malaise.

A greenish stool can be either a symptom of an incipient disease or a temporary phenomenon. The main thing is to establish the exact cause of such a change, and, if necessary, begin to take measures to restore it.

The consistency, color, and even smell of feces can tell a lot about a person's health. This fact was taken into account by ancient healers. Therefore, if suddenly the chair suddenly becomes dark - this is an occasion to seriously think about the reasons for such changes.

Perhaps everything is explained by quite ordinary and harmless things - for example, eating certain foods. But sometimes dark feces indicate serious diseases that require immediate medical attention.

In addition, there are a number of chronic ailments and conditions in which blackened stools are in any case a dangerous and highly suspicious symptom. In this material, we will try to figure out why the feces are dark in color, we will analyze the causes of this problem in adults.

Symptoms

With serious health problems in an adult, in addition to black stools, the following symptoms may occur:

hematemesis;
bright red bleeding from the rectum;
dizziness or weakness (from blood loss).

If the cause of black stools is not clear, you should immediately see a doctor to examine the stool for blood. Sometimes with a large amount of such a chair, there is a danger of shock due to significant blood loss.

What should be the color of feces in a healthy person?

In principle, the color of feces in a healthy person should be brown or shades of brown.

On the color of feces many factors influence: this is nutrition (the color depends on the food that a person consumes), and taking medications at the moment. Human diseases also affect the color of feces. If the flow of bile into the intestines is interrupted, then the feces completely lose light and become gray-white.

Causes of dark stool in adults

First of all, having discovered dark feces, it is worth analyzing what has been consumed in the last two or three days: food, drinks and medicines.

For example, preparations containing iron stain the feces black, just like grapes or red beets eaten the day before. In this case, it is worth monitoring the condition of an adult for several days when he does not take drugs or has stopped using food that stains feces.

The causes of dark stool can be the following:

Dark feces are not always a sign of a disease, but if there is a suspicion that something is wrong with the body, and dark feces is accompanied by a deterioration in the general condition of the body, you should not engage in self-diagnosis and self-treatment.

Dark green stool

What does it mean? The appearance of dark green loose stools is often a sign of intestinal infections. In this case, other signs soon join this symptom:

increased body temperature;
abdominal pain;
nausea;
vomit.

Dark feces with a greenish tint of normal consistency can be observed in various liver diseases associated with a decrease in its functional activity:

hepatosis;
hepatitis;
cirrhosis;
fibrosis, etc.

This is due to insufficient utilization of hemoglobin by the liver and the release of iron compounds into the duodenum. You may also experience symptoms such as:

pain in the right hypochondrium;
bitterness in the mouth;
nausea.

Dark stool during pregnancy

Pregnancy is often accompanied by disorders of the digestive system. Constipation, flatulence, nausea, diarrhea are frequent companions of expectant mothers. A 90% change in stool color during pregnancy is normal and does not require special treatment.

Taking iron supplements. Elementary intake of B vitamins and iron preparations provokes the appearance of darker than usual stools. At the same time, no other changes in the body are observed. The natural color of the stool becomes immediately after the withdrawal of the remedy.
Liver problems. During pregnancy, all body systems experience a tremendous load, hormonal changes can affect internal organs, including the liver. Liver diseases are accompanied by heaviness and aching pain in the right side, the appearance of a bitter taste in the mouth, nausea, and darkening of the stool.

Feces are the final result of digestion. It is formed as a result of complex biochemical reactions throughout all parts of the digestive system and is excreted outside the body during defecation. The main characteristics of feces are: volume, shape, texture, smell and color. Normally, the parameters can change quite a lot under the influence of some factors. But all these fluctuations are temporary in nature and independently return to normal after their exclusion. But some changes in the characteristics of feces may indicate a serious pathology of the internal organs.

What properties of feces correspond to the norm

To give an adequate assessment of the nature of the chair, it must be described according to the following criteria.

The frequency of acts of defecation. The frequency of bowel movements is considered normal from 2 times a day to two to three times a week. In this case, a prerequisite is the absence of pain and discomfort, as well as the rapid flow of the process. Otherwise, a bowel movement once every few days is considered constipation, and more than three times a day is considered diarrhea.

Number of bowel movements. Normal is the volume of feces in an adult in the range of one hundred to two hundred and fifty grams per day. A decrease in the amount of feces occurs with constipation, saturation of the diet with easily digestible food, and a decrease in the amount of food consumed. An upward deviation from the norm may be present with a large intake of plant fibers, dysfunction of the small intestine, insufficient pancreatic secretion, insufficient release of bile into the upper intestine.

The shape of the stool. According to the Bristol scale, it is customary to attribute the shape of feces to one of seven types, where two options are classified as normal: sausage-shaped and sausage-shaped, containing cracks. The rest regard it as constipation and a tendency to it, or as diarrhea, a tendency to it and severe diarrhea.

The consistency of stool masses should normally be soft, cylindrically shaped. But with various pathological processes, the consistency of feces can change in this way.

The dense structure of feces, consisting of separate lumps, (sheep) is provoked by:

disruption of the intestinal microflora
the presence of staphylococcus aureus
irritation of the intestinal wall in the colon
exacerbation of peptic ulcer
inflammation in the intestines
violation of the blood supply to the intestinal wall
insufficient intestinal motility
stress, severe nervous disorders
low fluid intake
insufficient physical activity
surgical intervention

The presence of "sheep feces" in a patient for a long time can cause intoxication of the body, weakened immunity, provoke the appearance of cracks in the anus, hemorrhoids up to intestinal prolapse. A tendency to regular constipation should be consulted by a doctor without fail.

Mushy stools can appear due to infectious and inflammatory diseases in the intestines, stomach dysfunction and rotavirus infections. If it is accompanied by mucus discharge, then one can think of a bacterial infection, colds, accompanied by a severe runny nose, as well as the use of certain foods.

With pancreatitis, mushy stools acquire a gray tint, which may indicate the addition of fermentative dyspepsia, chronic enteritis, or colitis with diarrhea.

Diarrhea can also develop for other reasons, due to:

Dysbacteriosis
Infectious intestinal diseases
Various forms of tuberculosis
Thyroid dysfunction
Intestinal malabsorption
Improper nutrition
kidney disease
chronic stress
Avitominosis
Allergic conditions
Severe diseases of the digestive system
Malignant neoplasms of the last sections of the intestine.

Ointment-like feces are distinguished by a fatty structure and occur with inflammatory diseases of the pancreas, the presence of calculi in the gallbladder, cholecystitis, hepatitis of any origin, colitis, accompanied by malabsorption.

Clay feces most often have a grayish tint. This is due to the high content of undigested fat, which happens with a poor outflow of bile from the hepatic ducts and the gallbladder itself. It is observed in hepatitis, obstruction of the biliary tract.

Liquid stool can have different shades and appearance.

With an intestinal infection, the stools have a liquid watery consistency.

In infectious diseases, the stool has a green liquid appearance.

With gastric bleeding in the upper sections, the feces become black and have a liquid consistency.

In diseases of the upper intestines, the stool resembles a light slurry.

If the lower part of the small intestine is involved in the pathological process, then the feces, along with a liquid consistency, have a yellow color. It is watery and frothy and can be repeated up to eight times a day.

Typhoid fever is characterized by the presence of feces in the form of pea puree.

With cholera, the stool has a colorless appearance, akin to rice water.

If diarrhea in adults and elderly patients lasts longer than two weeks and is accompanied by the periodic appearance of an admixture of blood, then it makes sense to exclude tumors of the small intestine.

Loose stools of a long nature are observed after surgical interventions on the intestines, as well as in inflammatory diseases of this area of non-specific origin.

Foamy feces is a sign of the presence of fermentative dyspepsia and indicates that fermentation processes are taking place in the intestines.

Yeast-like stool occurs in the presence of a fungal infection. May have a characteristic yeasty odor and appear as a frothy or curdled mass with threads resembling melted cheese fibers.

The color of feces in the normal state ranges from light shades of brown to dark saturated. And it can vary depending on the pathological process present.

Light-colored stools, up to yellow-white and gray, may indicate:

Abuse of rice or potatoes
The use of barium sulfate for X-ray examination of the digestive tract
Use of medicines containing calcium or antacids.
Inflammatory diseases of the abdominal organs, cholelithiasis, severe liver diseases (cirrhosis, cancer).

Red stools can occur when:

The presence of dark bowel movements can be triggered by:

Taking activated charcoal
The use of drugs containing iron in their composition
The presence of blueberries and dishes from it in the daily diet
gastritis
Malignant processes in the upper and lower intestines
Ulcerative defect of the duodenum and stomach

The presence of black feces is a threatening sign and requires immediate medical attention.

The smell of feces is normally characterized as unpleasant, but not sharp.

The predominance of a pungent odor indicates the predominant content of meat food in the diet.

The presence of a rotten smell indicates inadequate digestion of food with the development of putrefactive processes.

Sour - accompanies lovers of dairy products and appears after drinking refreshments made by fermentation.

Fetid stool appears with exacerbation of cholecystitis, pancreatitis, increased secretion of the large intestine, active reproduction of the bacterial flora.

Feces with a putrid odor are found in dyspepsia, impaired digestion in the stomach cavity, colitis, and constipation.

If the stool smells of old oil, then this is a sign of bacterial decomposition of fatty foods in the intestines.

The presence of a slight faint smell in the feces indicates constipation and too rapid evacuation of the food bolus from the small intestine.

It is important to understand that a change in the color of calculi, as well as any other of its characteristics, can occur for physiological reasons - related to the individual characteristics of nutrition and the use of nutritional supplements or certain medications. In this case, the return to normal occurs on its own, without the connection of therapeutic methods after the exclusion of the provoking component.

In another case, the reason for the change in the main characteristics of feces are pathological causes - various diseases of the internal organs. In this case, external changes are the result of a pathological process, so the patient will not be able to solve this problem on his own. To understand the nature of the disorders and choose the optimal treatment, you need to contact a specialist.

Physiological causes of green stools in an adult

The most common reason for such a change in feces lies in the characteristics of the patient's diet. In most cases, green stools appear when the diet is rich in iron-rich foods. These include:

Red meats
Green leafy crops, including lettuce, broccoli, spinach and their juices
black licorice
Fish of marine origin
Red bean variety
Greenish stools may appear after eating foods that include food coloring from light green to black-green. It can be: colored caramel, marmalade, carbonated drinks, chewing gum.

The color of feces can change when taking certain biological supplements or medications, turning into gray, greenish, and sometimes black-green. This can be provoked by:

Substances that contain a high concentration of iodine
Herbal laxatives
Chlorophyll
Glucose
Sorbitol
Vitamin and mineral complexes
Seaweed supplements

When green feces appear in an adult for pathological reasons

The presence of green stool in adult patients may be due to the presence of a dangerous pathology, when self-diagnosis and treatment are unacceptable. These states include:

Food poisoning.
Crohn's disease.
Intestinal diseases of an infectious nature (enterocolitis). At the same time, the stool not only changes its color, but also a large number of mucous inclusions are determined in its composition.
Internal bleeding of low and medium intensity. With heavy bleeding from the digestive tract, the stools become black.
Increased secretion of the thyroid gland.
Allergy to food. It is characterized not only by a change in the color of the feces, but also by the presence of mucus and poorly digested food particles in them.
Ulcerative defect of the gastric wall.
Rotavirus infection. It is characterized by a green, fetid stool with a high content of mucus against the background of signs of severe intoxication. More typical for children and infants.

All these conditions are life-threatening for the patient, so it is strongly not recommended to treat them on your own. Only a specialist with the help of additional laboratory methods can determine the cause of the appearance of green stool in a patient and prescribe adequate therapy.