Re: GREAT article on evaluating problems through looking at stool!

[Guest guest]

This was great information. Thanks for sharing. I didn't however see anything

regarding green stools. My son has on occasion had some very green (garden

pea) colored stools. Can you give any suggestions here?

TIA,

Rhonda in Ca

[Guest guest]

Excellent article, thanks! So what do they think NORMAL looking

stools should look like?

> A lot of information can be gathered from just observing stools.

> Color, texture, consistency, and other 'properties' can give clues

> to what is happening in digestion.

>

> This article is intended to help with stool detective work by

> parents and is only given as a guide. Visually inspecting stools

> alone are not diagnostic of anything. Other symptoms and signs are

> generally present. Please consult a health care professional with

> further concerns.You will see there is some overlap and what comes

> out one day may be due to someone that happened on previous days

due

> to transit time in the gut.

>

>

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> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> 1. Dark-colored stools may be seen in platelet function disorders,

> iron deficiency anemia, cirrhosis, colorectal cancer, disseminated

> intravascular coagulation, peptic ulcer, or stomach cancer. Liver

> disease may include a yellow tone to the skin and whites of eyes

> (jaundice) and brownish urine.

>

>

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> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> 2. Black or tarry stools (Melena) - the passage of black, tarry

and

> foul-smelling stools; can be an indication of digested blood in

the

> stool. Other causes are, iron deficiency anemia, cirrhosis,

> colorectal cancer, disseminated intravascular coagulation, peptic

> ulcer, or stomach cancer. In advanced cirrhosis (liver disease),

the

> abdomen becomes distended with fluid and ruptured blood vessels in

> the stomach and esophagus cause bleeding. The person may vomit

blood

> or pass black stools. Very dark stools, for example, may indicate

an

> ulcerative lesion in the higher digestive tract.

>

> Note: The ingestion of black licorice, lead, iron pills, Pepto-

> Bismol, or blueberries can all cause black stools or false melena.

> Stools should be tested for the presence of hidden blood.

>

>

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> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> 3. Blood in the stool (Hematochezia) - the passage of red, or

maroon-

> colored stools. Red or " frank " blood in the stool could be caused

> by hemorrhoids. Bloody stools can also be seen in amebiasis, anal

> fissures, or colorectal cancer. Bright red bleeding with bowel

> movements may be due to hemorrhoids; however, other conditions

such

> as colonic polyps or tumors, diverticulosis, and abnormal small

> vessels called AVMs also may cause bleeding. Unusually, the

bleeding

> is coming from the upper intestine or stomach. Bleeding such as

you

> describe usually is evaluated by colonoscopy. Blood, as seen in

the

> stool, can originate anywhere along the intestinal tract. A black

> stool usually means that the blood is coming from the upper part

of

> the GI tract. At least 6 Tablespoons (or 200 milliliters) of blood

> must have been lost in order to cause passage of melena. Maroon-

> colored stools or bright red blood usually suggest that the blood

is

> coming from large bowel or rectum. However, sometimes can be

caused

> by massive upper GI tract bleeding. Some upper GI causes of bloody

> stools can also cause vomiting blood such as in peptic ulcer

> disease. The color of the stool can suggest the location of the

> bleeding however this is not reliable. A definitive diagnosis will

> require radiographic and/or endoscopic investigation.

>

> Black color –

> - bleeding ulcer

> - gastritis

> - esophageal varices

> - a tear in the esophagus from violent vomiting

>

> Maroon color –

> - all the causes of black color stool

> - diverticular bleeding

> - vascular malformation

> - intestinal infection (such as bacterial enterocolitis)

> - inflammatory bowel disease

> - tumor

> - colon polyps or colon cancer

>

> Bright red color -

> - all the causes of black or maroon color stool

> - hemorrhoids

> - anal fissures ( " cracks " in the anal area)

>

>

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> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> 4. Gray stools, pale stools, putty or clay colored stools may be

> seen in hepatitis, gallbladder disorders, or malabsorption

> conditions. Bile salts in the stool excreted by the liver give it

a

> normal brown color. Obstruction to bile flow out of the liver (you

> may see the word " cholestasis " ), or liver infections like viral

> hepatitis (A, B, C, etc.), may produce clay colored stools.

Possible

> causes for clay colored stool result from problems in the biliary

> system (the drainage system of the gallbladder, liver, and

> pancreas): Malabsorption problems can cause undigested fat in the

> stool (steatorrhea) which is characterized by foul smelling, light

> yellow to gray, greasy or frothy stools. This may also be caused

by

> low

> bile output.

>

>

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> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> 5. Heavy, fat-rich stools can indicate various intestinal and

> pancreatic disorders, and so forth. Can also be due to

malabsorption

> or insufficient fat breakdown.

>

>

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> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> 6. Diarrhea - The passage of an increased amount of stool. This is

> frequently considered to be 3 or more stools per day, or

excessively

> watery and unformed stool. Chronic diarrhea occurs when loose or

> more frequent stools persist for longer than two weeks.

>

> Diarrhea causes can be grouped into several general categories.

>

> Infections – viruses, bacteria, parasites

> Toxins - often referred to as 'food poisoning.' Toxins may be

> produced in foods as bacteria grow. These toxins are responsible

for

> the associated vomiting and diarrhea.

> Malabsorption - lactose intolerance, celiac disease (sprue) or

> gluten malabsorption, cystic fibrosis, cows milk protein

> intolerance, intolerance to specific foods (beans, fruit, etc.)

> There are other less frequently encountered causes of

malabsorption.

> Inflammatory Diseases of the Bowel – Crohn's disease, ulcerative

> colitis

> Immune deficiency

> M edications – antibiotics, laxatives (especially those containing

> Magnesium), chemotherapy

> Other

>

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> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> 7. Floating stools

> Stools that float are generally associated with some degree of

> malabsorption of foods or excessive flatus/gas. Floating stool is

> seen is a variety of different situations, the

> majority being diet-related or in association with episodes of

> diarrhea caused by an acute gastrointestinal infection. A change

in

> dietary habits can lead to an increase in the amount of gas

produced

> by bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract. Similarly, acute

> gastrointestinal infections can result in increased air/gas

content

> from rapid movement of food through the GI tract. One

misconception

> is that floating stools are caused by an increase in the fat

content

> of the stool. In fact, increased air/gas levels in the stool make

it

> less dense and allow it to float. Another cause of floating stools

> is malabsorption. More than two weeks of diarrhea with floating

> stools is often seen in people suffering from malabsorption, a

> dysfunction in the GI tract that affects the body's ability to

> digest and absorb fat and other food. Increased levels of

nutrients

> in the stool (those not absorbed by the GI tract) are supplied to

> the normal bacteria that live in the gut, which in turn produce

more

> gas. This results in more air/gas- rich stool that floats. Dietary

> changes, diarrhea, and malabsorption can cause floating stools.

Most

> causes are benign and will resolve when the infection

> ends or the bacteria in the GI tract become accustomed to the

> changes in your diet.

>

>

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> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> 8. Stinky stools - normally has an unpleasant odor, but one that

is

> recognized as fairly common. Stools that have an extremely bad,

out-

> of-the-ordinary odor may be associated with certain medical

> conditions. Foul-smelling stools also have normal causes, most

> notably diet. Foul smelling stools may occur in conjunction with

> floating stools.

>

> Foul smelling stools can be due to bacteria overgrowth. Some

> bacteria produce hydrogen sulfide which has a characteristic

rotten

> egg smell (stench). It can also be the putrifying debris in the

gut.

> Ammonia smelling stools can be attributed to bacteria overgrowth

or

> nitrogen being improperly metabolized.

>

>

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> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> 9. Yeasty stools – " yeasty " stools indicate the presence of yeast,

> but are not the only indication of yeast. These may appear during

> either yeast growth or die-off. Possible yeast-looking stools

> include:

>

> cottage-cheese looking stools

> frothy stools…like yeast bread rising

> yeasty smell to stools

> stringy-ness to stools…like cheese strings

>

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> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> 10. White specs in stools:

> 1. Rice (may cannot even digest rice)

> 2. They've been eating paper

> 3. or, something else they can't break down. For my daughter this

> would include any kind of bean, nut, seed, grain, vegetable,

> popcorn, etc. She initially was ok with rice but later on (about

10

> mos.) stopped being able to digest pretty much anything.

Eventually

> found white little seeds from the Mesa Sunrise Waffles.

>

>

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> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> 11. Black specks may be seeds, foods, or from die off of yeast or

> bacteria.

>

> If you start any supplement that might create looser stools,

> temporary diarrhea, or die-off of yeast or bacteria (like an

> antibiotic, probiotic, digestive enzymes, antifungal, laxative,

> etc), you might see dark or black flecks in stool during

> this 'cleaning out' period. Certain types of adverse bacteria in

the

> colon can produce dark residues and this is getting cleaned out.

>

>

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> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> 12. Severe constipation, or alternative constipation

and 'diarrhea'

> (or loose stools) This could be encopresis.

> see Encopresis

>

>

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> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> Fiber is often recommended to help with constipation. The idea is

to

> add fiber which will absorb more water into the colon and help

make

> stools softer and easier to pass. This applies to over-the-counter

> sources as well as whole food sources. But you need to remember to

> drink sufficient or even extra water too in order for this to

work.

> If you are having problems with constipation, consider upping the

> water intake along with the fiber. This might not need saying but

> then again it might be one of the overlooked factors.

[Guest guest]

HI! I'm not sure what normal poops look like. Maybe they should be

brown, formed, sinking, and smooth I guess. Anyway, as far as the

green stools someone else asked this from another chat room I

belong to. One of the suggestions was that it could be from food

colorings such as blue dyes. I have cut and pasted the repy to that

question below. Hope this helps! Sheryl

Kim, I did " research " on green stools last year and found it can be

from blue food coloring (try it yourself and see what happens!) and

I tracked it down to Blue's Clue's applesauce or fruit things (which

we don't use anymore). If it's not food coloring, then the other

possible bad news is bacteria....that would have other symptoms

though too, such as a horrid smell and wierd texture.

--

[Guest guest]

> This was great information. Thanks for sharing. I didn't however see

anything

> regarding green stools. My son has on occasion had some very green

(garden

> pea) colored stools. Can you give any suggestions here?

The article that was posted, appears to me to be 's article here

http://www.enzymestuff.com/rtstools.htm

For my kids, green bm was if they ate green or blue foods, or if they

ate a food or supplement they did not tolerate.

Dana

[Guest guest]

And just noticed she has a few typos to correct in that article!

Hey, if anyone is in the Orlando area where the storms hit, if you

need anything, please say so. A number of business are out or closed.

I don't live near there, but perhaps someone could send you something

or help out until things are up and running again in that area.

.