gastrointestinal disorders
Diarrhea
Introduction
Stool is 60 to 90% water. In Western society, stool amount is 100 to 200 g/day in healthy adults and 10 g/kg/day in infants, depending on the amount of unabsorbable dietary material (mainly carbohydrates). Diarrhea is defined as stool weight>200 g/day. However, many people consider any increased stool fluidity to be diarrhea. Alternatively, many people who ingest fiber have bulkier but formed stools but do not consider themselves to have diarrhea. Frequent passage of small volumes of stool, as may occur in patients with tenesmus (rectal urgency), should be distinguished from diarrhea. Similarly, Fecal Incontinence can be confused with diarrhea. However, diarrhea can cause a marked worsening of fecal incontinence. ( See also Overview of Malabsorption and see 