Combatting dehydration is your primary medical concern with diarrhea.The 5-minute clinical consult standard 2015 (23rd ed.).

It is important to get those minerals back in fluids, especially water and sports drinks. When you have diarrhea, your body sheds fluids that contain needed vitamins and minerals. It is often best to let it run its course while treating the underlying cause and minimizing the associated dehydration and electrolyte imbalances.ĭrink water and other fluids to restore vitamins and minerals. Even so, diarrhea is your body's way of flushing toxins from your system. Additionally, it is the fifth leading cause of death worldwide, affecting 11 percent of the general population. Acute diarrhea can be accounted for as the cause of more than 150,000 admissions to the hospital every year. In most cases diarrhea will go away on its own within a few days, but certain types of diarrhea can cause serious problems. It can also be a reaction to food allergies, medications, protozoans (10%-15% of cases), viruses (50%-70% of cases), or bacteria (15%-20% of cases) in food or water. This article has been viewed 1,727,668 times.ĭiarrhea is not a condition it is a symptom of another health issue, such as an infection or a virus. This article received 19 testimonials and 80% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. WikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. There are 21 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. He completed an internal medicine residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and a gastroenterology fellowship at the UCLA Geffen School of Medicine. He holds a BS in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and an MD from the Medical College of Wisconsin. Prokupek has over 30 years of medical experience and specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the liver, stomach, and colon, including chronic hepatitis C, colon cancer, hemorrhoids, anal condyloma, and digestive diseases related to chronic immune deficiency.

Prokupek is also a staff physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and an associate clinical professor of medicine at the Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dale Prokupek, MD is a board-certified Internist and Gastroenterologist who runs a private practice based in Los Angeles, California. This article was co-authored by Dale Prokupek, MD and by wikiHow staff writer, Eric McClure.

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