Normally, feces are colored various shades of brown. However, this indicator is affected by the food eaten the day before or the medication taken. The color of stool can vary from yellow to green or even black. The appearance of the latter should alert a person, since it often indicates the presence of serious health problems, including internal bleeding and cancer.

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Causes of black stool

At the first signs of tarry stool (melena), a person needs to analyze the possible causes of this phenomenon. The main factors that can cause feces to turn black are:

1. 1. Food.
2. 2. Medicines.
3. 3. Diseases.

Food influence

Some foods have an effect on the darkening of feces. This is especially true for foods containing large amounts of iron and fat-soluble dyes. These include:

Partial staining of stool in the form of black dots is associated with incomplete digestion of food. A similar phenomenon is caused by:

• Raspberry.
• Kiwi.
• Persimmon.
• Grape.
• Bananas.
• Currant.

Bananas can cause black, worm-like clumps to appear in the feces, which can be confused with helminthiasis.



Medications

Various groups of medications can provoke the appearance of black stool. These include:

1. 1. Iron preparations prescribed for anemia - Tardiferon, Ferro-Folgamma, Ferrum-Lek, Hemofer, Sorbifer Durules.
2. 2. Vitamin complexes - Vitrum.
3. 3. Medicines containing bismuth - Vikalin, Novbismol, De-Nol, Vikair.
4. 4. Sorbents - activated carbon and other preparations containing it.
5. 5. Salicylate-based products - acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin. Long-term use can cause internal bleeding, characterized by black stool.
6. 6. Antibiotics used for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

The appearance of black feces due to the use of various foods and medications without worsening the general condition is physiological and does not require treatment.



Diseases

The presence of black feces can be a symptom of serious pathologies in the body. In this case, melena occurs suddenly and is accompanied by additional symptoms:

• Dizziness.
• General weakness.
• Fainting states.
• Confusion.
• Pale skin.
• Deterioration of general health.
• Nausea.
• Vomiting.
• Stomach pain.
• Cold sweat.
• Increased body temperature.

The combination of the above symptoms indicates the presence of disease. If they occur, you should immediately consult a doctor. Typically, tarry stools are observed with gastrointestinal bleeding caused by:

The presence of a green tint in black stool can also be a sign of a disease - an infectious process, for example, dysentery. In this case, you should immediately contact a specialist without waiting for the condition to worsen. If discoloration is the only sign, it may be caused by eating foods rich in chlorophyll, such as broccoli, spinach, arugula and other foods. In addition to color transformation, there is often a change in smell, which indicates a pathological process:

Black diarrhea

Dark-colored diarrhea develops for the same reasons as formed stools. The difference is the inability of the digestive tract to remove harmful substances. This is the body's reaction to a change in diet or alcohol poisoning. A similar picture goes away on its own after a short period of time.

The sudden appearance of tarry, loose stools often becomes a symptom of intra-abdominal bleeding, which is caused by:

• Ulcerative erosions and varicose veins at the site of pathology.
• Intestinal diseases and the development of neoplasms in it.
• Diseases of the biliary tract.
• Polyps of various parts of the intestine and their damage.
• Infections of viral and bacterial nature.

Dark-colored diarrhea is also a symptom of exacerbation of existing diseases:

• Hepatitis.
• Ulcers.
• Cancer.
• Internal bleeding after abdominal surgery.

In this case, the symptom may be accompanied by:

• Dizziness.
• Dark or scarlet vomit.
• Decreased blood pressure.
• Pallor.
• Rotten burp.
• Severe abdominal pain.

The duration of this condition for more than 2 days is a reason to consult a doctor.

Melena during pregnancy

Women during pregnancy often experience such stool disorders. This is due to excessive consumption of plant foods rich in iron. This is also facilitated by regular use of vitamin complexes.

Pregnancy often causes the development of anemia. To treat it, iron supplements are prescribed, which color the feces black. You should only worry if your health worsens.

Childbirth does not affect the digestive system, therefore, for women after the birth of a child, the causes of tarry stools are the same as for any adult.

Dark stools in older people

Typically, the reasons for the appearance of black stool in older people do not differ from other categories of patients. But most often it occurs against the background of the use of medications and vitamins. In this case, discontinuation of treatment is not required.

The use of activated carbon and De-Nol provokes a change in color, but the liquid consistency of feces requires diagnosis.

Darkening of the stool in the elderly also develops for the following reasons:

• Due to changes in metabolism in bedridden patients.
• Against the background of failure of various organs. Under these circumstances, black stool indicates imminent death.

Diagnosis and treatment

If there is a possibility of black stool due to illness, a number of procedures are prescribed. Studies of the gastrointestinal tract are carried out:

• Fibrogastroduadenoscopy (FGDS) - study of the stomach and duodenum using a gastroscope.
• Rectomanoscopy - examination of the rectum and distal parts of the sigmoid.
• Colonoscopy is an examination of the large intestine over a distance of 2 meters.

Additional testing includes MRI, x-ray, ultrasound (based on other symptoms) to identify the pathological process that led to the formation of melena. To exclude internal bleeding, a stool test for occult blood and blood tests are performed.

If there is a sudden deterioration in health, or vomiting with blood, you must call an ambulance. The patient must be laid down and provided with:

• Cold (leave an ice pack on the epigastric area).
• Hunger (not giving food).
• Peace.

First aid for suspected gastrointestinal bleeding

To get rid of melena, you need to treat the underlying disease.

Black stool can occur in both women and men and is sometimes a harmless response to eating high-calorie foods, iron-rich foods, or taking vitamins. But often this is a signal from the body about the presence of a pathological process that requires treatment. It is necessary to monitor your health and consult a doctor at the first suspicion of illness.

Many people, having discovered that their stool turns an uncharacteristic red-brown color, suspect that this phenomenon may be caused by some kind of internal bleeding. But this is not always the case. Sometimes such coloring of stool can be explained by completely natural reasons that do not pose any threat to life and health. At the same time, in some cases, the red-brown color of stool should cause concern, because the admixture of blood in stool can be a serious factor indicating some kind of disturbance in the body’s functioning.

Natural causes

Reddish-brown stool may be completely harmless and may simply be due to excessive consumption of red-colored foods or liquids. The most common culprits of this violation are beets and tomatoes (also in the same borscht), red jellies and fruit drinks, various red candies and potions of this color.

Blood

If the stool is still stained with blood, causing it to appear red-brown in color, we can conclude that the bleeding occurred somewhere in the lower parts of the intestines. If blood enters somewhere higher, the stool becomes black due to the oxidation of hemoglobin. If you notice that in addition to the strange color of the stool, blood remains on the toilet paper, you should definitely be wary.

Easily eliminated factors

Bloody stool is a specific symptom of bleeding in the lower digestive tract and can indicate various problems, which in turn can be very minor or quite serious. In childhood, small amounts of blood in the stool may indicate problems with milk digestion. In addition, this symptom sometimes occurs with persistent constipation, in which case excessively sharp fecal particles injure the delicate intestinal mucosa, which causes bleeding.

In some cases, blood may appear due to the consumption of certain antibiotics and other medications. Such situations are not capable of causing serious harm to health and the bleeding stops on its own after the irritating substances stop entering the body. So, if the symptom is caused by the consumption of antibiotics, stopping the use of the medication will quickly be reflected by the disappearance of traces of blood in the stool.

Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease

In some cases, stool of this color may indicate the initial stage of ulcerative colitis, as well as Crohn's disease. These ailments belong to inflammatory bowel diseases and are chronic diseases of the gastroenterological type that can be inherited. However, in most cases, in addition to reddish stool, they are indicated by other symptoms, namely diarrhea, cramping, vomiting or nausea. The patient also loses weight.

Treatment is selected depending on the stage of the disease and other associated factors. Various dietary programs, anti-inflammatory medications (sometimes steroids), and antibiotics can be used as therapeutic agents. In some cases, surgery is performed.

Traumatic injuries

Bloody stools may indicate a problem such as hemorrhoids or cracks inside the anus. In addition, this pathology is also observed with other injuries to the rectal area. Sometimes problems of this kind arise after childbirth, constant constipation, injuries during sexual intercourse, or due to the entry of some foreign objects into the rectum.

Other lesions of the digestive tract

Blood in the stool can signal problems with the digestive tract, and only a doctor can determine the location of the bleeding. Thus, diverticulitis is considered a very common disease that causes such a symptom. This pathological condition leads to inflammation or infection of small areas of the rectum. As a result, in addition to reddish stool, the patient experiences pain in the lower part of the peritoneum.

Sometimes bloody stools are a threatening symptom of watering of the large intestine, or cancer in this area.

What to do?

Having discovered reddish-brown feces of unknown etiology, you must immediately make an appointment with a proctologist. The specialist will listen to all your complaints and also recommend a number of different examinations to determine the reasons that caused this phenomenon. Mandatory studies include general tests, both blood and stool, as well as a proctolic examination. The doctor will most likely sign you up for a sigmoidoscopy - a hardware examination of the intestines.

If necessary, the doctor will prescribe other procedures and also select the optimal methods for drug correction of the problem found.

Stool color- an indicator that can depend on many factors. Among these are the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, the composition of microflora, nutrition and human lifestyle. The appearance of an incomprehensible shade of stool usually occurs for physiological reasons, but may also indicate the development of gastrointestinal pathology.

Dark green, gray-green or olive color indicates colitis, irritable bowel syndrome. Feces turn yellow or yellow-brown due to impaired absorption of fats in the body, pancreatic cancer. A sandy tint is a common occurrence for vegetarians. If the feces are red, this most often indicates the presence of hemorrhoids and anal fissures. The color of stool in colorectal cancer varies from bright red to beet red. In this case, the patient experiences constipation and severe pain during bowel movements. Scarlet, heterogeneous bowel movements may indicate the presence of diverticulitis, intestinal infection, or inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. If you experience such symptoms, you should immediately consult a doctor and undergo a full medical examination. Orange coloring of feces is an indicator of biliary tract diseases.

Causes of changes in the color of feces

Despite the fact that the normal color of stool in children and adults is considered brown, temporary changes in shade should not be a concern if there are no symptoms of gastrointestinal disorders. The reasons for changes in the color of stool in men, women and children can be varied, from harmless to dangerous to health:

• insufficient secretory activity of the pancreas;
• cholelithiasis, inflammation of the bile ducts;
• oncology, HIV, diabetes;
• dysbacteriosis;
• pancreatitis, chronic cholecystitis, gastritis;
• cholera, rotavirus infection;
• appendicitis;
• allergies, poisoning with toxic substances;
• biliary dyskinesia;
• jaundice.

The color is also affected by the consumption of alcohol, medications and products containing dyes. Stress can also change the color of stool in a healthy adult at any age.

Physiological causes: food, medications

Taking vitamins or pills can change the color of feces to an unusual and uneven color. The most common drug that affects this indicator is activated carbon. Medicines that can color stool include iron preparations (Sorbifer, Creon).

Darkening of feces is also possible under the influence of bismuth derivatives. Blackening of stool also occurs after eating foods such as blueberries, cherries, carrot juice, coffee drinks, and in rare cases, tomatoes or tomato paste.

It is worth considering that staining of the stool or the presence of multi-colored inclusions in its composition should not be accompanied by pain, mucus, diarrhea, constipation, or fever.

If you have such symptoms, you should urgently consult a doctor who will prescribe tests and make a diagnosis.

Symptoms of diseases based on the color of stool

The reason for the discharge of feces, whose color resembles potassium permanganate, is most often the streaks of blood in their composition. This indicates hemorrhoids, anal sphincter fissures. Such injuries appear after difficult childbirth, sexual intercourse, or operations to remove hemorrhoids.

Black (hypercholic) stool may indicate bleeding. This is a sign of a stomach or duodenal ulcer. The most dangerous diagnosis in this case is colon cancer. With it, the patient experiences:

• blood in the stool;
• change in shape – the stool is as thin as a thread;
• feeling of unemptied bowels.

Hypocholic, i.e. pale feces appear after eating large amounts of rice and potatoes. The cause may also be tumors of the bile ducts. With pancreatitis, the shade of stool also becomes pale. Absolutely white stool (acholic) occurs when the bile ducts are blocked.

When the stool turns ocher, then the cause lies in pancreatic insufficiency. If the stool turns green, earthy, mustard, or clay in color, this indicates hepatitis.

If a change in the color of stool is accompanied by pain, it is important to seek medical help as soon as possible; based on the diagnostic results, the doctor will prescribe the optimal treatment. Taking medications such as Almagel, Bifidumbacterin, Omez, Pancreatin, Allohol, Nemozol and Papaverine, Enterofuril will help eliminate the symptoms.

Change in stool color during pregnancy

Deviations in the properties of feces from the norm in pregnant women, especially in the early stages, are not uncommon. Usually the cause is not a disease, but physiological factors. During pregnancy, women take a lot of iron-containing medications and multivitamins (for example, Elevit), so the usual color of stool may change to black or green. Sometimes this phenomenon is facilitated by the consumption of blueberries, currants, cranberries, buckwheat, and blood sausage. If a woman has not eaten such foods or taken vitamins, she should immediately undergo a stool test to determine hidden blood in it and undergo other diagnostic procedures as prescribed by the doctor.

The reason for the greenish tint of stool lies either in the consumption of large quantities of leafy vegetables, or in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, for example, rotavirus, dysbacteriosis. In the case of pathology, additional symptoms such as persistent diarrhea appear. For treatment, the doctor prescribes medications such as Enterosgel, Mezim, Enterol, Smecta, Phosphalugel.

Normal stool in a child

In newborns, in the first two days of life, feces are black, dark green or green in color. With breastfeeding (breastfeeding), the stool has a golden, yellow hue, sometimes pearlescent. By 4–5 months this phenomenon disappears. If a baby is formula-fed, his stool becomes thicker, the smell is stronger, and the color becomes lighter.

If a nursing mother notices that the baby's feces have become watery and yellow (red or lemon), then there is no need to worry, because... this is affected by changes in the fat content of breast milk. When feeding with poorly diluted cow's milk, the feces begin to turn silver and air bubbles are observed. If a child is malnourished, the stool becomes dark and earthy. This is also observed in children under one year of age when complementary foods consisting of green fruits and vegetables are introduced. In this case, it is necessary to consult a pediatrician and adjust the child’s diet. For dysbacteriosis or other gastrointestinal problems, the doctor prescribes the drug Enterofuril or Essential Forte.

Diet and prevention of possible pathologies

If the stool begins to darken or lighten, a person must figure out what influenced this. To accurately determine the reasons, research and the help of qualified specialists will be required.

To prevent the development of pathologies, it is important to follow the principles of proper nutrition.

To do this, you need to avoid foods that are too fatty and spicy. Another contraindication is alcohol and fast food abuse. Vegetables and fruits must be washed well, and the milk must be boiled. In addition, it is important to take general tests every six months and conduct an ultrasound of the abdominal organs and genitourinary system. The functioning of the gastrointestinal tract is improved by constant physical activity, including performing various gymnastic exercises, running, and Nordic walking.

Stool examination

A healthy person's feces consists of approximately 1/3 of food debris, 1/3 of detectable digestive organs, and 1/3 of microbes, 95% of which are dead. Stool examination (macroscopic, microscopic, chemical) is an important part of the examination of a patient with diseases of the digestive system. If an infectious intestinal disease is suspected, a bacterial examination of stool is performed.

Feces for research are collected in a dry, clean container, feces intended for bacterial examinations are collected in a sterile test tube. Stool examination is carried out no more than 8-12 hours after its excretion. During this time, the feces are kept in the cold. Still warm feces are examined for the presence of protozoa immediately after defecation. When analyzing stool for the presence of blood, 3-4 days before the test, exclude meat and fish products, all types of green vegetables, as well as tomatoes and spring eggs from the patient’s food. When studying the quality of food digestion, the patient is assigned a common table (No. 15), from which meat is excluded. More accurate information about food absorption and metabolic status is obtained by prescribing a trial diet. Before collecting stool, the patient is not given medications that change the nature or color of stool for 2-3 days.

The amount of feces per day (normally 100-200 g) depends on the water content in it, the nature of the food and the degree of its absorption. In diseases accompanied by impaired digestion of food (damage to the pancreas, intestinal amyloidosis, sprue, celiac disease, etc.), the weight of feces reaches 1 kg or more.

The shape of stool largely depends on its consistency. Normally, stool has a sausage shape and a soft consistency.

With constipation, K. consists of dense lumps, with dyskinesias of the colon, it appears as small dense balls - the so-called sheep feces.

With accelerated intestinal evacuation, feces are unformed, liquid or mushy.

The color of normal stool is due to the stercobilin present in it.

If bile secretion is impaired, stool becomes light gray or sandy in color.

The color of stool changes when there is bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract.
When there is heavy bleeding in the stomach or duodenum, it turns black; the lower the source of bleeding is located, the more distinct the red color of the stool.
The color of stool is also affected by some medications (carbolene, bismuth, iron preparations, etc.) and
plant food pigments.

The smell of feces depends on the presence in it of decay products of food residues, mainly of a protein nature.
With pronounced putrefactive processes in the intestines (putrefactive dyspepsia, tumor decay), feces become fetid, and when fermentation processes predominate, it acquires a sour odor.

To detect food debris, feces are ground in water (1 teaspoon of feces per 10 parts of water) and examined in a Petri dish on a black background.
The fat in this emulsion floats on the surface in the form of a cloudy coating. When there is an abundance of fat (steatorrhea), the feces become ointment-like and acquire a lighter color.
Among the pathological components in the feces, you can see mucus, blood, pus, which appear during inflammatory and ulcerative processes in the colon, as well as stones (bile, pancreatic and intestinal).
Macroscopically, roundworms and segments of tapeworms can be detected in feces.

Normally, feces contain undigested fiber, single fragments of muscle fibers without cross-striations, individual drops of fat and a small amount of soap.
The presence of starch (amilorrhea) indicates insufficient absorption of carbohydrates, an increase in the number of muscle fibers (creatorrhoea) and the appearance of cross-striations in them indicate poor absorption of proteins.
With insufficient absorption of fats (steatorrhea) in the feces, along with a large amount of neutral fat, a lot of fatty acids and soaps are determined (with a lack of bile).
A large amount of mucus in the stool is observed with proctitis, dysentery, etc.
Microscopic examination of feces can reveal protozoa - amoebas, balantidia, lamblia, trichomonas, etc., as well as worms and their eggs.

To identify mobile vegetative forms of protozoa, feces are diluted with an isotonic solution of sodium chloride on a slightly warmed glass slide, and a cover glass is placed on top. To detect cysts, stool is ground with 1-2 drops of Lugol's solution. Smears are examined first at low magnification, then at high magnification.
If there are difficulties in differentiating the species of protozoa, dry stained smears are examined.

A chemical study of feces involves, first of all, determining the reaction of the environment, which is carried out using litmus paper.
Normally it is neutral or slightly alkaline. When fermentation processes intensify, as well as when there is a significant fat content in fermentation, the reaction is acidic; when putrefactive processes predominate, it becomes alkaline. If the color of K. is light, a test for stercobilin is made: a lump of K. the size of a hazelnut is ground with several milliliters of a 7% solution of mercuric chloride and left for a day. In the presence of stercobilin, a pink color is observed.

To detect hidden blood, when diagnosing an ulcerative or tumor process in the gastrointestinal tract, a benzidine test and a guaiac test are used.

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, K. has 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 formula milk, the baby acquires a thicker consistency, a whitish color, a sharper odor, and an alkaline reaction; Its flora is diverse, E. coli predominates.

Depending on the age of the child, the nature of feeding, and the functional state of the intestine, K. has its own characteristics. So, when feeding with breast milk, which contains a lot of water and few nutrients, the stool is yellow, watery, and odorless. When fed with insufficiently diluted cow's milk, the stool is silvery in color, shiny (soapy stool), soft, and contains small lumps of mucus on the surface. With predominantly protein feeding, the feces are dirty gray in color, mushy, with a strong unpleasant odor (putrid feces). When consuming an excess amount of fatty foods or malabsorption of fat, the stool is whitish (fatty stool), with a sour odor, and a small amount of mucus. With constipation, the stool is hard, gray, and has a putrid odor. With increased peristalsis and insufficient absorption of fat, the feces contain lumps of soap and an admixture of mucus (curdled feces). When a breastfed baby is hungry or undernourished, dark-colored “hungry stool” appears, sometimes liquid, with an unpleasant odor and an alkaline reaction.

Changes in stool in children are also observed in various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

In case of overfeeding, errors in nutrition, feeding that is not appropriate for age,
dyspeptic stools appear, frequent, copious, with mushy or watery foamy
yellow-green stool containing white lumps of soap 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, and contains mucus and blood. With celiac disease, the stool is light yellow or grayish, shiny, foamy, mushy, and extremely abundant. In cystic fibrosis, stool is copious, light-colored, foul-smelling, and contains a lot of neutral fat.
Melena in newborns is characterized by liquid, dark, crimson-tinged stool.

Normal stool color

The stool (stool, faeces) is usually brown in color, and many people are alarmed if the color of the stool changes.
Most changes in stool are of little significance, however, if changes occur not only in the color of the stool, but throughout the body, then this is a reason to think about it.

The color of stool is usually determined by bile, specifically the substance bilirubin in bile. Bilirubin is formed from hemoglobin after it is produced from red blood cells as they break down, as part of the normal process of replacing one cell with another.
The released hemoglobin changes in chemical composition and is removed from the body by liver functions.
In the liver, this modified hemoglobin (bilirubin) is combined with other chemicals and released as secretion from the liver in the form of bile.
Depending on the concentration of bilirubin, bile can vary from dark to light yellow.

How do changes in bilirubin affect the color of stool?

Bile passes through the bile ducts (and gallbladder) and into the intestines. Once bile enters the intestines, some of its components also undergo chemical changes that affect the color of the stool. These changes mainly depend on the speed at which intestinal contents pass through the intestines.

If the speed is normal, then the color of the stool is light or dark brown.
If the intestinal contents flow at a higher rate, then chemical changes in bilirubin and/or lack of
This substance can give stool a green color. But this is not only important in itself - changing the color of the stool.
If there is no bilirubin (bile) in the stool, the color of the stool will be gray, like clay, which will indicate that the flow of bile into the intestines is blocked. The most common causes of this blockage are tumors in the bile ducts or pancreas.

How does bleeding in the intestines affect the color of stool?

One serious process in the body can significantly change the color of the stool - bleeding in the intestines.
The color of the stool may turn black due to blood in the intestines.
Bleeding, especially severe if there is a large amount of hemoglobin in the intestines,
reflected in the color of the stool. The color of the stool turns black due to bleeding that occurs in the upper part of the intestine.

The stool is black, due to bleeding, sticky and smells bad.
Using the latter characteristics, it is possible to distinguish black stool caused by bleeding from black stool caused by bleeding.
which contains a lot of iron and/or bismuth-containing drugs (for example, bismuth subsalicylate (Peptobismol).

On the other hand, bleeding may occur in the lower intestine, especially in the lower colon, and then the color of the stool will be red or red-brown, because. there is not enough time for hemoglobin oxidation to occur and the stool turns black.

Other causes of stool color change

Another less common internal process can cause stool discoloration - pancreatic disease.
The pancreas releases special enzymes that help process fat, proteins and carbohydrates.

When pancreatic enzymes are not present in the intestines, fat is not completely processed.
In this case, the stool becomes “greasy” and smells bad.
The most common pancreatic diseases that affect stool color are pancreatic tumors, which block the pancreatic duct through which enzymes pass into the intestines. In chronic pancreatitis caused by alcoholism, the amount of enzymes is significantly reduced.

Some substances can also cause changes in stool color.

Iron and bismuth-containing medications (Peptobismol) can turn the stool color black.
Beets and possibly other vegetables and fruits can cause red stools. Food colors
may also affect the color of the stool.

Why might stool be green?

There are many reasons for stool of this color, the main ones are the following:

If the stool is green in color with an unpleasant putrefactive odor, then this sign is characteristic of damage to the small intestine, and dysbacteriosis is possible.
- green stool with mucus and pus is a sign of acute intestinal inflammation; the green color appears due to dead leukocytes.

This color may also be due to bleeding in the distal intestine.

The stool turns green due to oxidized iron, which comes out of destroyed blood cells; these manifestations may be the result of a complication of a peptic ulcer. In this case, signs of anemia will be observed.

- green stool in adults can also be due to high consumption of green food dyes, which may be contained in soda, alcoholic drinks or other products.

Impurities in stool and changes in its color are symptoms that infectious disease doctors and gastroenterologists have to deal with quite often.

Based on this sign alone, it is sometimes possible to even make a preliminary diagnosis. Let's consider what a violation such as the acquisition of a green color in feces may indicate.

A fairly common situation, including in childhood, is when the feces are green in color and smell very unpleasant, something putrid.
This can continue for a long time after an intestinal infection or treatment with large doses of antibiotics.
Dysbacteriosis develops - food digestion is disrupted in the small intestine, resulting in
Rotting and fermentation intensifies, and products are formed that give the feces a green color.

The most striking example of green and blood in the stool is dysentery.

Green stool in adults can also occur during an intestinal infection.

At the same time, mucus, pus, and even streaks of blood may appear in it.

At the same time, other signs of infection are observed: weakness, fever, abdominal pain,
There may be nausea and vomiting. The color of stool in this case is due to the presence in it of a large number of inflammatory cells - leukocytes.

Green stool may also indicate problems with the liver and blood.

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 intestines and can make the stool green or darker,
up to dark brown color.

Another, less common cause of green stool in adults is bleeding from the stomach or upper intestines.
In this case, most often the blood has time to completely oxidize and the stool becomes black (the so-called melena),

Preparation, the process of defecation itself and the final result are a delicate topic, but relevant for discussion. Feces of suspicious consistency, color, shape can make a completely healthy person run to the hospital in panic, while others are not bothered by the question of what it means.

If you see black feces at the bottom of the toilet, analyze why it is black and what it might be connected with. There are many reasons for this phenomenon; sometimes they are harmless and natural, but sometimes they can become an alarming sign of a disease.

Norms of color, shape, consistency of stool

In a healthy person who does not have digestive problems, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, leading a healthy lifestyle - the following standards related to the process of defecation are established:

• Quantity and quality. The excretion of feces should occur 1-2 times a day, every day, but at least 3 times a week, provided that you are in good health. Discharge occurs easily and painlessly, the daily amount ranges from 200-400 grams. No stool for more than 72 hours - constipation, bowel movements more than 3-4 times a day - diarrhea.
• Form. According to the “Bristol scale”, feces having a cylindrical, rounded shape are the norm; inclusions of undigested food and cracks on the surface are observed.
• Consistency - dense, but soft, shaped.
• The smell is unpleasant, but not pungent; normally it should not be putrid or sour.
• Color. In an adult, healthy person who is on a balanced diet, the color of stool varies from light to dark shades of brown.

Factors affecting the color of feces

There are many reasons for the change in color of stool and it depends on what you eat, drink or take as a medicine, unless associated symptoms are observed.

One of the main causes of constipation and diarrhea is use of various medications. To improve bowel function after taking medications, you need to do it every day. drink a simple remedy ...

Causes of black stools that do not require treatment

Before you start worrying about the color of your stool, think about what could be causing this phenomenon, consider the food you drank and ate the day before. Eating large amounts of certain fruits, vegetables, and drinks significantly affects the black color of feces.

These dye products include:

Children's surprise black

Do not worry if you see black-green liquid feces on the diaper of a newborn baby; this is nothing more than meconium - original feces.

The baby's first feces, consisting of digested in the womb:

• amniotic fluid;
• epithelial cells;
• bile;
• prenatal hair;
• leaves the intestines within two to three days of birth.

In older children, the appearance of a black “surprise” in the pot may be associated with the popular dietary supplement Hematogen, used to prevent anemia.

Modern milk formulas, cereals and their vitamin complexes, including iron, may well give the stool a dark tint.

If the child feels great, jumps, runs, eats and sleeps well, then an attack in the form of black feces should not bother you. If the baby’s general condition worsens, body temperature rises, nausea and vomiting occur - Seek medical help immediately!

Black stool in pregnant women

The “interesting position” does not affect the color changes in the stool of the woman who is in it.

The culprits are vitamins, namely their excessive amounts contained in the above-mentioned berries and fruits, which expectant mothers now eat “for two.”

Anemia in pregnant women is a common occurrence, so an iron supplement prescribed at a doctor’s appointment indicates a change in stool from the usual brown to unexpected black.

How does taking medication affect the color of stool?

When taking this or that medicine, it is advisable to carefully read the instructions for the drug, side symptoms, what can happen in case of overdose, and more.

The most well-known medications that affect the appearance of black stool include:

• - enterosorbent, which has an antidiarrheal, cleansing effect on the intestines, removing toxins and poisons from the body, coloring feces black.
• Iron preparations (Maltofer, Orferon, Ektofer, Monofer, etc.) - prescribed for iron deficiency anemia.
• Multivitamin complexes containing iron (Vitrum, Elevit, Multi-Tabs).
• Medicines for gastrointestinal diseases, antiulcer drugs containing bismuth oxide (,).

What diseases cause black feces?

You should start sounding the alarm when black stool occurs in a combination of the following symptoms:

• Nausea, vomiting, vomit with;
• Fever, high or low blood pressure;
• Dizziness and numbness of the limbs;
• Intoxication of the body after alcohol.

The combination of these signs may indicate serious illness and means immediate medical attention.

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