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Sour stools in infants. The smell of feces in a baby, as one of the indicators of a child's health

Normal bowel movements in a newborn - what is it like?

The first thing that new mothers and fathers need to know and remember: the baby's stool depends on his (and therefore his mother's) nutrition and age, and can also be completely different for different children. And this means that it is incorrect to compare the feces of older children and infants, our own and other people's children. In addition, babies who are breastfed have different stools from those who eat formula.

Do not be alarmed if in the maternity hospital, in the first days of life, the child has frequent yellow-green watery stools. It is completely normal to have watery stools. This substance is meconium (original feces), which is replaced by gray-green feces after 2-3 days. Meconium, which has a watery consistency, looks like tar or machine oil and is odorless.

So what's a good baby's stool? The norm for a baby who is breastfeeding is:

  • mushy consistency;
  • yellowish golden;
  • the smell is sweetish, reminiscent of milk, or sour, like cottage cheese or yogurt;
  • the norm with a frequency of bowel movements is approximately equal to the number of feedings (more than 5 times per day), in children older than 3-4 months - 1-2 times a day, usually in the morning.

If the baby does not poop for a long time, there is no stool, or the frequency of bowel movements is low, this may indicate an insufficient calorie intake. And if there are foamy stools with a pungent odor and the frequency is several times a day - it's time to see a doctor!

Over time, feces with a watery consistency in infants become thicker and more uniform, as the digestive system matures. In very young children, 1-2 months old, the stool is frequent, watery, usually with white patches, but not rare. This behavior of the gastrointestinal tract in infants is considered the norm.

Some babies who are breastfeeding have a greenish color with a watery consistency. As a rule, this indicates an immature digestive system and an underdeveloped liver. If this phenomenon does not become permanent, then treatment is not required - the case when the infant outgrows the problem.

Liquid or so-called "sour" feces with a watery consistency sometimes appear in babies on the days when teeth are teething. This is also normal and does not require medical intervention.

Stool of the child after the appearance of complementary foods in the diet

At 6-10 months, the baby's diet, in addition to mother's milk, appears other food - the so-called complementary foods. During this period, the baby's already liquid stool can change dramatically - many have yellow-tinged diarrhea or constipation, the color and smell of poop changes. What to do for mom in this case: do not worry and monitor bowel movements (remove new foods if they cause serious stool disturbances). It is better to start complementary foods with cereals, since the child's body usually reacts to vegetables with diarrhea. It is also better to wait with fruit.

After the baby's stomach gets used to complementary foods, the stool becomes thicker and brown.

Breastfeeding: abnormal stool

It is important for parents to remember that the first signal that something is abnormal with the baby's digestion is his behavior, not feces. If the baby is cheerful, cheerful and does not have a tummy ache, there is no point in worrying. What else can you do?

Dark, frequent stools

Dark feces usually appear in infants when a lot of foods containing iron appear in the diet. This situation does not require correction. If there were no such additives, and the stool is dark, you should see a doctor to rule out cases of intestinal bleeding.

Mucus in feces

A slimy consistency with shiny streaks appears in the stool of a baby due to:

  • allergies;
  • infections;
  • lack of enzymes in the body;
  • improper diet (if eats only the front, more liquid and less nutritious, milk).

IMPORTANT! If frothy or watery, frequent stools with mucus persist for more than 2 days, or if other symptoms, such as fever, develop, you should see your doctor.

Pieces of food in your baby's bowel movements and discoloration of stools

Brown banana strings or blueberry skins can be seen in baby poop. Sometimes feces change color. For example, orange - appears if a baby has eaten carrots, red - beets or tomatoes. Orange feces are common. If the situation is permanent, then the child's gastrointestinal tract cannot cope with the load and a pediatrician consultation is needed. The shade of orange in stool is affected by the work of bile. The alarm should be from colorless stool, not from an orange tint.

White or green feces

White feces are considered if baby poop is chalk or light gray. This is a strong signal that the infant is unable to digest food. The reason may be improper functioning of the gastrointestinal tract or insufficient amount of bile in the liver.

Green feces, on the other hand, are considered a variation of the norm. Usually appears after the introduction of vegetable complementary foods (pot or broccoli), as well as if the baby is additionally given preparations with iron.

Foamy stool

A nursing baby has frothy stool for three reasons:

  • the stomach does not digest any food. Complementary foods that cause frothy feces should be removed from the diet for a while;
  • intestinal infection. In this case, additional symptoms appear - fever, frothy green diarrhea, vomiting, bloody feces;
  • imbalance of front and back milk. In this case, the infant feels well, gains weight, but the stool is liquid, foamy, and also suffers from colic and gas. Front milk is thinner and also contains a lot of lactose. The baby's pancreas is not able to completely digest this enzyme, so dysbiosis and other problems arise. To remove frothy feces, the mother needs to either give the baby the breast until it is completely empty, or express some of the milk and feed it backwards.

It is worth noting here that sometimes children who are breastfeeding suffer from the so-called lactose deficiency, when the body does not digest lactose well, resulting in foamy stools. It can be hereditary and acquired due to malnutrition. In both cases, the main symptom is the presence of more than 1% of carbohydrates in the stool. If the diagnosis is confirmed, the baby should be given a lactose-free mixture.

Diarrhea in babies

Diarrhea in babies who are breastfeeding is even more dangerous than in adults. It not only strongly irritates the fragile gastrointestinal tract in infants, but also quickly dehydrates the body.

In infants, diarrhea is watery, just like water, sometimes frothy, and may even flow out of the diaper. Shade - yellow, brown. The frequency of foamy bowel movements increases.

The causes of frothy yellow diarrhea with a frequency of a couple of times a day, if breastfeeding, are very different - from a banal infection to allergies or other serious diseases. In any case, if it has been observed for the second or third time, a doctor's consultation is imperative.

Constipation

Hard feces are a rare problem when breastfeeding is mother's milk than diarrhea. Constipation, which requires the intervention of a pediatrician, looks like this:

  • appears systematically, several rare bowel movements in a row;
  • the baby, when pooping, strains heavily, cries;
  • poop looks like hard pellets;
  • blood is visible on the feces due to damage to the anus.

The doctor, after examination and analysis, as a rule, adjusts the diet, and may also prescribe special medications to normalize the infantile's rare stool. If feeding with breast milk, and constipation appears after the introduction of complementary foods, it may indicate an intolerance to some product by the baby. In this case, you need to remove "new items" from the menu.

Stool for babies by months of life

A small calendar of the baby's chair will come in handy for young mothers and fathers:

  • Infant in the first 2-3 days of life. Meconium is NORM. If it does not appear, you should feed the newborn with colostrum from a pipette, otherwise infant jaundice may appear or the baby will begin to lose weight. Dark stools during the night occur at a frequency of up to several times;
  • Infant up to 1-1.5 months. If breastfeeding is yellow feces, in frequency - more than 4 times a day, the volume each time is slightly more than a teaspoon, the consistency of liquid cottage cheese or sour cream. The baby has a liquid, soft, yellow or mustard-colored feces, sometimes with red streaks, a sweetish smell or, conversely, reminiscent of sour milk;
  • Breastfeeding baby from 1-1.5 months to the first feeding (usually at 6 months). The frequency of "bobbing" by the baby is different, but in any case, the intensity becomes less. The shade and consistency can also be any: as long as it does not bother the baby, there is no problem;
  • after the introduction of complementary foods. A nursing baby has feces similar to an adult, the frequency is 1-2 times every few days. Everything is normal except diarrhea, constipation, as well as uncharacteristic frequent stools with an unnatural odor (frequent frothy, with mucus, of a different color), which lasts for a long time, especially in combination with fever or pain.

It takes several months from birth before the infant's gastrointestinal tract adapts to the processing of food from outside. That is why the problems of colic, dysbiosis, and irregular bowel movements are typical for newborns.

Features of the child's stool (norm)

For parents, these difficulties can be a serious cause for concern. Pediatricians again and again tell mothers and fathers about the child's body, give directions for tests, prescribe medications.

Stool in babies is determined by the quantity and quality of food consumed, as well as the general state of health!

In the first weeks it is considered normal if there is a bowel movement after each feeding. Even if the stomach is cleared after two or three days, this is not yet a reason for panic. Accordingly, no matter how people want to standardize everything, exact numbers are not provided here, everything is individual.

Meconium in a newborn:

Immediately after birth, the contents of the baby's stomach are characterized by a dark color, it is practically odorless, since it does not yet contain bacteria. Meconium leaves completely on the second day, sometimes the process takes longer. The food in the womb was completely different, so the stool has an unusual shade and composition.

Meconium in a newborn always dark, but can vary in shades: from yellow to green.

After, for 3-4 days, the feces take on the appearance of a yellowish gruel. Due to addiction to breast milk, a delay in emptying is at first natural. If after three days the newborn has not pooped, then it is best to seek help. The specialist will massage your tummy or apply an enema. After simple procedures, everything will be restored, and the newborn will feel better.

Feces of breastfed babies are yellowish, do not contain impurities, liquid consistency. On artificial feeding, the child poops at regular intervals, the result is darker and denser.

Frequent bowel movements in babies. It is considered usual if emptying occurs up to 7 times a day or up to once every 3 days. If there are significant deviations from the above data, then it is advisable to resort to the help of a specialist.

Why does the tummy hurt?

The introduction of supplementary feeding with a mixture can cause constipation in infants. Additional food provokes the colonization of the baby's intestines with beneficial bacteria, resulting in constipation and discomfort.

All this causes anxiety and crying. Even if it seems that the little one does not have enough food, it is advisable to postpone the mixture. It is better to use new food only on the recommendation of a pediatrician. If, nevertheless, the mixture cannot be dispensed with, then for several days the child may experience pain and discomfort in the tummy.

What does the color tell you about?

The residual contents of the stomach are released in the first days of life. At this time, the baby's stool resembles tar, it is dark green in color, almost does not smell.

Stool shades in newborns from birth to complementary foods:

Further, from the fourth day, the appearance approaches a gray-green or yellowish tint. The more the crumb consumes mother's milk, the faster the color returns to normal. Without deviations, children poop about 4 times a day.

If the baby is breastfed, then by the second week the marks on the diaper turn yellow and remain unchanged for a long time.

Shades of feces in children with the introduction of complementary foods:

In the future, with the introduction of complementary foods, the bowel movements of the baby acquire different shades. After the first servings of apple juice, the stool darkens, since the necessary enzymes are still insufficient, oxidation occurs. Carrots brighten up the stool, while squash and broccoli give a hint of green.

The appearance tends to change, it depends on the diet of the nursing mother and on what was additionally given to the baby to eat.

Frequency: rare or frequent?

If a baby has a stool of normal consistency, yellow in color, then frequent trips "on a large scale" is not a reason to sound the alarm. The main thing is that the baby is active and has a good appetite. So he assimilates the received nutrients, frequent bowel movements are not diarrhea yet.

Regular watery toilet causes dehydration, so treatment should be started as soon as possible!

The concern should be the appearance of foam, mucus, and an unpleasant sour odor. In this case, you should consult a doctor. The cause may be an intestinal infection or the wrong way of eating.

Occasional bowel movements can cause anxiety in young parents. If there is no bowel movement for 2 days, then on the 3rd baby is able to empty himself. It is not recommended to stimulate the intestines of babies. If the baby poops less often than once every 3 to 4 days, then you should seek the help of a doctor.

In an ordinary situation, a light massage of the tummy helps out in a clockwise direction, but you should not get carried away with enemas, they wash out the intestinal flora that has not yet been formed.

If the stool contains blood or its insignificant traces, it is important to understand why this is happening. Lack of vitamin K causes low coagulability, blood enters the internal organs. Also, the reason sometimes lies in hemorrhagic disease. Seeing a doctor and taking a vitamin will improve the situation.

Feces with blood in a newborn:

Due to cracks in the anus, traces of blood appear, this happens with numerous constipation. Many adults mistakenly think that they have got blood when a toddler eats beets, tomatoes, or watermelon.

Loose stools most often occurs due to the characteristics of the mother's diet. A large amount of vegetables in the diet leads to loose stools.

Infection is a much more serious cause of watery vital signs.

Loose stools in a newborn:

The infection is accompanied by fever and irritability of the baby, the newborn refuses to eat. In this option, calling a health worker is mandatory, since frequent bowel movements lead to dehydration.

A common occurrence in newborns is foamy stool ... It occurs with a lack of nutrition, then it is advisable to feed the baby with a mixture. Lack of lactase causes frothy stool.

Lactase Is a special enzyme responsible for the digestion of milk. It should be added to mom's daily menu so that it can be used as food for the baby.

Foamy stool in a newborn:

In addition, foam can be a reaction to new complementary foods. In such cases, it is recommended to postpone the addition of new foods for a while, so that more enzymes are produced in the digestive system that contribute to trouble-free absorption.

Slime appears in feces due to the inability to cope with the volume of incoming food. Depending on the age, the specialist offers his own solution to the problem. The solution is to add products like kefir or rice porridge to the diet.

Stool with mucus in a newborn:

The appearance of lumps indicates poorly processed food. Lumps indicate overeating. With the introduction of complementary foods, such particles are a sign of undigested fiber.

In any case, you should monitor the general well-being of the child, as well as the frequency of atypical bowel movements. An increase in temperature, a nervous state indicate trouble. You should not self-medicate, the baby needs to get timely medical attention.

Characteristics for color and smell

Green chair in the early days - a common, natural phenomenon. Within a couple of weeks, the feces can be green, since a substance - bilirubin - is excreted from the body. In the future, new products added with complementary foods give a green color: broccoli, zucchini. More often than not, greens are not a warning sign. If the color changes are accompanied by unpleasant putrid odors, temperature, nervous behavior of the crumb, then you need to seek qualified help.

Yellow feces typical for breastfeeding babies. Shades depend on the fat content and thickness of breast milk, on the functioning of enzymes.
Darkening of the discharge indicates oxidative processes. Complementary foods containing apples provoke dark stools. Also, iron-containing drugs cause oxidation.

Slightly normal sour smell feces of an infant feeding on breast milk. With constipation, waste products darken and acquire an unpleasant rotten smell. Most often, dysbiosis manifests itself in this way. In this case, the doctor prescribes special bacteria to populate the microflora. With the help of a special analysis - coprogram, an accurate diagnosis is made and a suitable method for eliminating the problem is selected.

Often, parents inadequately assess the stool in infants, referring to the criteria for artificial feeding. This leads to errors in the nutrition of the mother and child, as well as to incorrect and unreasonable treatment.

Features of the chair in infants

The chair of a breastfed baby can be anything. Unlike a newborn who is on artificial mixtures, the quality and quantity of the baby's stool changes regularly. The decisive role in this case is played by the age and behavior of the kids.

In the first week, newborns have stool at least 3 times a day, sometimes the figure reaches 12. If there is no stool for more than a day, this indicates that the baby is receiving little milk.

After 6 weeks, your baby usually has less bowel movements. However, some people continue to go to the toilet after each feed. This is not unusual. Much depends on the diet of the nursing mother, the number of feedings and even the psychological state of the baby.

During this period, the absence of a chair for up to a week is allowed if the baby behaves calmly and normally gains weight. Stool consistency and color are different. At the same time, the smell is often fermented milk or there is no smell at all. White lumps and a small amount of mucus are possible.

With the introduction of complementary foods after six months, the stool occurs less often and decreases to 1-2 times a day. Please note that color and consistency are strongly influenced by complementary foods.

If the baby cries and is restless before or during a bowel movement. Changes in behavior and well-being, changes in the appearance of the newborn are the reason for increased attention to the digestion of the baby.

Colour

Feces in infants can be of various shades: bright and light yellow, orange, light and dark green, light brown. What affects the color:

  • Feeding type. When breastfeeding, the feces will be green;
  • Medicines that mom is taking. Digestion reacts to antibiotics, activated charcoal, and drugs that contain iron or dyes. The stool becomes much darker than usual, it can even turn black. A black chair is okay !;
  • Complementary feeding begins. The color is influenced by the products with which the mother begins to feed the baby. At the beginning of the complementary feeding, the stool turns green. There may be yellow, white or green blotches;
  • The baby does not digest breast milk well, which causes green or orange stools;
  • Bilirubin is a bile pigment that appears due to the destruction of blood proteins. It gives the stool a yellow-brown or orange hue. This reaction occurs in 70% of babies. It goes away without treatment, since bilirubin is independently excreted from the body in urine and feces;
  • ... If an imbalance occurs in the intestinal microflora, then the stool becomes lighter. However, the feces acquire light shades during the period of teething.

Pay special attention if the baby has white feces (discolored stools)! This is a symptom of hepatitis! This disease is rare in children in the first two years of life, but has a poor prognosis. Therefore, in case of discolored stools in infants, consult a doctor immediately!

If only the color of a newborn changes, but the smell, consistency and presence of impurities remain the same, then the problem is in the type of food.

Consistency

Stool consistency in infants is also different. Basically, it is liquid, because the first six months of life, the baby receives milk liquid food. With artificial or mixed feeding, the stools are thicker and darker.

But how do you know if your baby has normal loose stools or diarrhea? In a newborn, if:

  • The stool is both thin and watery;
  • The frequency of bowel movements increases;
  • The stool has an unpleasant odor, an expressive green or yellow color;
  • The baby has a fever;
  • Vomiting begins;
  • There is a lot of foam and mucus in the diaper, there are streaks of blood;
  • The kid is lethargic and weak.

However, yellow or green stools mixed with foam or mucus do not always mean diarrhea. Always look at the condition of the baby. If weakness, temperature, increased gas formation appears, then it is worth sounding the alarm. If the baby sleeps well and feels cheerful, then there is no cause for concern.

Impurities

The presence of impurities in the stool is normal if the baby is feeling well. However, in case of fever, loss of appetite and weight, be sure to see a doctor.

Types of impurities:

  • White lumps are particles of curdled milk that appear when the baby overeats. The digestive system simply cannot cope with the volume of food when feeding. In addition, indigestible food often appears after complementary feeding has begun. This leads to a rapid increase in baby's weight .;
  • Mucus is present in the stool of every newborn in small quantities. An increase in mucus indicates the onset of an inflammatory process. This is due to improper breastfeeding, inappropriate infant formula, overfeeding, medication, early introduction of complementary foods and other reasons;
  • Foam is a functional disorder that does not indicate any disease or pathology. Foam appears due to colic or increased gas production in an infant. However, profuse foam can be a symptom of dysbiosis or intestinal infection;
  • Blood is a serious symptom that requires a mandatory visit to a doctor. Often this is an indicator of dermatitis, rectal fissures, inflammation or intestinal pathology, protein allergy.

Frequency

In the first month of breastfeeding, stool occurs after each meal. Then the frequency is reduced by 2-4 times, the baby can generally start going to the "toilet" once a day or two. This is due to the renewal of breast milk.

During this period, the baby is naughty, sometimes refuses to breast. This is a temporary phenomenon, in which there is nothing terrible. If the chair does not occur for 2-3 days, but there is no discomfort during bowel movements, the baby does not lose weight, then the delay is not constipation.

Signs in a newborn:

  • Difficulty emptying the bowels;
  • Stool retention for more than 1.5 days;
  • Significant discomfort during bowel movements.

By the way, when breastfeeding, constipation is rare. They are typical for newborns on artificial mixtures. However, if constipation occurs in a baby, then pay attention to the nutrition of a nursing mother. With such a problem, plums, dried apricots and prunes will perfectly help if the newborn does not have allergies. And remember the measure of use!

Massage will also help. But with the use of medicines, it is better to wait. Before taking medications, be sure to consult your doctor!

Is it normal or time to see a doctor?

Normal stool

Age and conditions

Characteristic

The first three days after birth Black or black-green, tarry, odorless
3-7 days Gray-green or gray, semi-liquid or greasy
More than a week while breastfeeding Color from yellow to brown or mustard, mild fermented milk smell. The consistency resembles liquid semolina porridge. Intersperses of white grains, admixtures of mucus or greens may occur
On artificial or mixed feeding, at the beginning of complementary feeding Dark brown or light brown tint, sometimes interspersed with greens, mushy or thick consistency, sharp unpleasant odor
When consuming colored fruits and vegetables Unusual shade with colored splashes

Needs attention

Characteristic

Causes

What to do

Yellow, brown or green stools of a liquid or frothy appearance with a pungent sour-milk odor; there is often irritation around the anus Excess milk from mom; the baby gets a lot of sweet front milk. Change breasts less often when feeding
Brown, green, or yellow with a lot of mucus The kid has recently had ARVI or teeth are starting to cut The stool will return to normal after a while, but if this condition continues for several days, see your doctor.
Thick and soft or mushy dark brown in color Taking medications that contain iron If the stool has changed due to taking the medication, there is nothing to worry about. Otherwise, consult a doctor!


To the doctor!

Characteristic
Frequent, yellow, green, or brown stools with an unpleasant odor. The baby is losing or not gaining weight Disorder due to allergy, infection, or poisoning
Hard "cool" stool comes out in portions with a tense stomach. In the process, the baby screams. Constipation due to the introduction of new food into the diet
Green color with a lot of foam, a sharply sour smell, appears with “cotton”. Around the anus - irritation. The kid is restless and slowly gaining weight. Often means development of primary or secondary lactose deficiency
at the baby
With blood Allergy to cow protein, symptom of intestinal bleeding, hemorrhoids, or bacterial infection
Stool discoloration or white stool Infectious disease, hepatitis


How to normalize stool

If there are minor irregularities in the baby's stool, and they do not require a visit to a doctor, then you can adjust the stool yourself. First of all, the nutrition of the nursing mother affects the baby's feces.

How to fix a chair:

  • Include dairy products, dried fruits, vegetable dishes in the menu. If the baby has constipation, exclude the use of nuts, fatty cheeses, flour products, white bread, strong tea and coffee;
  • Drink plenty of fluids. The minimum rate is 2.5 liters per day;
  • Keep breastfeeding as long as possible. As practice shows, children on artificial mixtures suffer more from digestive disorders, colic and constipation;
  • Introduce new foods into your diet gradually and in small doses. Closely monitor the baby's reaction, as such food can cause allergies, colic, stool disturbance;
  • Give your baby a tummy massage on a regular basis. Stroke your abdomen in a clockwise circular motion;
  • Encourage your baby to move and play. This will improve intestinal contractions.

These recommendations will help not only to improve the chair, but also to prevent many problems. Therefore, even if the newborn has a normal stool, the methods will be a good prevention.

Stool usually has an unpleasant odor, but it is an odor that is common and unremarkable. The offensive stool has an unusually strong, putrid odor. In many cases, foul-smelling stool is associated with the foods you eat and bacteria that have colonized your colon. But fetid feces can also indicate serious health problems. Diarrhea and flatulence (gas) can accompany fetid feces. Such faeces are often soft or thin, and there is no regular bowel movement.

Causes of a foul-smelling stool

Changes in your diet are often the cause of fetid feces. Another common cause is chronic disturbance of digestion, absorption and transport in the small intestine ( malabsorption)... Enteropathy (chronic diseases of the small intestine) occurs when the body is unable to absorb the required amount of nutrients from the food you eat. This usually occurs when there is an intestinal infection or disease of the intestinal mucosa that prevents the absorption of nutrients from food.

Common causes of malabsorption

  • Celiac disease - a reaction to gluten with damage to the lining of the small intestine and impaired absorption of nutrients
  • Inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn's disease or colitis
  • Carbohydrate intolerance - the inability to digest sugars and starch
  • Food allergies, such as milk protein

A common symptom of malabsorption is fetid diarrhea.

  • If you have inflammatory bowel disease, your reaction to certain foods is fetid diarrhea or constipation, flatulence. The gases can also have an unpleasant odor.
  • Bowel infections can also be accompanied by foul-smelling feces. Soon after the infection develops, abdominal cramps may occur, followed by foul-smelling, loose stools.
  • Certain medicines can cause gastrointestinal discomfort and diarrhea. If you are allergic to ingredients, food additives, then taking some multivitamins can also lead to feces with an unpleasant odor. An unpleasant smell of stool can occur after a course of antibiotics and hold on until the normal bacterial flora of the intestine is restored.
  • Foul-smelling diarrhea can be a side effect of an overdose of multivitamins or any single vitamin or mineral. Diarrhea associated with multivitamins or medication overdose is a sign of a medical emergency. High doses of vitamin A, D, E, or K can cause life-threatening side effects.
  • Other conditions that can lead to foul-smelling feces include chronic pancreatitis, cystic fibrosis, and short bowel syndrome (the surgical removal of part of the small intestine that interferes with the absorption of nutrients).

Signs of fetid feces

Symptoms that can be associated with fetid feces include:

  • Liquid stool (diarrhea)
  • Soft feces
  • Frequent bowel movements
  • Abdominal pain
  • Nausea
  • Vomit
  • Flatulence
  • Bloating

Foul-smelling feces may be a sign of a serious medical condition... See your doctor immediately if you have any of the following symptoms:

  • Blood in the stool
  • Black chair
  • Pale stools
  • Fever
  • Abdominal pain
  • Unintentional weight loss
  • Chills.

How is fetid feces diagnosed?

Fetid feces are diagnosed by your doctor after answering questions about your feces such as

  • consistency
  • when you first noticed an unpleasant smell
  • how frequent the urge
  • what has changed in your diet (take a good look at what you ate before your stool turns smelly), foods you recently started eating.

Forecast

The health prognosis depends on what caused the foul-smelling stool. Most of the conditions that cause foul-smelling feces are curable. However, conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn's disease will require lifelong dietary changes and drug therapy.

Prophylaxis

Making necessary dietary changes can help prevent fetid stools. If your bowel disease is related to a reaction to certain foods, your doctor can create a diet plan that's right for you. A well-balanced diet can help reduce abdominal pain, bloating, and foul-smelling stools.

Avoid foodborne bacterial infections through proper food preparation. There are no dietary restrictions, it is important to cook beef, poultry, pork and eggs in such a way as to exclude their bacterial contamination. Don't drink raw (unpasteurized) milk. Do not cook meat and vegetables on the same cutting board. Preparing them on the same board can lead to contamination of vegetables with salmonella or other bacteria. Wash your hands thoroughly after handling raw meat and using the toilet.

), that are excellent indicators conditions in Gastrointestinal tract the patient.

UWE Norman Ratcliffe said that “the reader odors"Will allow you to check more samples and provide more accurate results testing.

“Because of the abundance products used by the patient, exists a huge number of variations odors in samples, but we trained the system compare unknown samples with the base of templates that have already been prepared. With a lot samples, we want to achieve the best results. "

“The method can be especially useful for diagnostics groups of diseases that are difficult to distinguish, ”he said.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), for example, have very similar symptoms, which becomes a problem when making a final decision. diagnosis- and yet these conditions are very different.

IBD is an autoimmune disease caused by a response immune systems for microbes in the digestive tract. It is usually diagnosed colonoscopy, while IBS is a gastrointestinal disorder with unknown causes. He is often diagnosed only when other, more serious bowel diseases are excluded.

The results of the study also showed that patients with IBD were distinguished from healthy subjects by the test with an accuracy of 79%.

For diagnostics diarrhea, needs to be addressed, localized cause diseases in the duodenum, small or large intestine. Start by researching color, consistency, smell and the frequency of bowel movements, as well as the general condition of the intestine.

Fine chair Brown.
Yellow or greenish chair indicates rapid passage (small intestine).
Black, tarry indicates bleeding in the upper digestive tract.

Bloody chair(blood or streaks) indicates bleeding in the large intestine .
Doughy, light chair indicates a lack of bile (liver disease).
Abundant, gray, with a rancid odor chair indicates a violation digestion or suction.

Consistency

Fine chair dense consistency, reminiscent of boiled sausage.
Soft volumetric chair speaks of overeating or eating foods with a high content fiber.

Watery chair indicates irritation of the wall of the small intestine (toxins and severe infections, for example, acute enteritis) with accelerated passage of intestinal contents and impaired absorption.

Foamy stools - suspected of having a bacterial infection.

Fatty stools (often with oily hair around the anus) indicate malabsorption - damage to the pancreas (malabsorption).

Smell(the more watery the stool, the sharper the fetid smell)
Food-like, or sour milk - due to accelerated passage and malabsorption, such as overfeeding of kittens.
Putrid odor - suspected of having an intestinal infection or blood in the stool (for example, in feline panleukopenia).

Frequency

Normally, the excretion of feces occurs once in the morning at the same time. But not more often than twice with abundant nutrition.

Several times an hour, in small portions, with exertion - colitis (inflammation of the colon) is expected.

Three or four times a day, in large portions, a malabsorption or disorder of the small intestine is suspected.

Differential diagnostics diarrheal syndrome:
1) chronic (tuberculosis, intestinal syphilis);

2) protozoal invasions (amebiasis, balantidiasis, giardiasis, trichomoniasis and etc.);

3) helminthiasis ( ascariasis, enterobiasis, trichinosis and other.);

4) nonspecific inflammatory processes (enteritis, enterocolitis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, diverticulitis, etc.);

5) dysbiosis(complication of antibiotic therapy, mycoses, fermentation and putrid dyspepsia);

6) dystrophic changes in the intestinal wall (amyloidosis, intestinal lipodystrophy, celiac disease-sprue, exudative enteropathy, collagenosis, etc.);

7) toxic effects (uremia, poisoning with salts of heavy metals, alcoholism, drug intoxication);

8) neoplasms (cancer and diffuse colon polyposis, lymphogranulomatosis, intestinal lymphosarcoma);

9) conditions leading to a decrease in the absorption surface of the intestine (resection of the large intestine, gastrointestinal and small intestinal fistulas);

10) functional disorders of the intestine (irritable bowel syndrome, intestinal dyskinesia, condition after stem vagotomy);

11) intestinal enzymopathies (congenital or acquired impairment of digestion and absorption of disaccharides, lactase or disaccharidase deficiency).

Diarrhea can occur with diseases of other organs and systems (not the intestines):

1) diseases stomach, accompanied by a decrease in secretory function (chronic atrophic gastritis, cancer, post-gastro-resection disorders);

2) diseases of the pancreas, leading to a decrease in the exocrine function of the organ (chronic pancreatitis, tumors);

3) liver disease and biliary tract, complicating achilia (due to the development of obstructive jaundice);

4) kidney disease accompanied by uremia;

5) diseases of the endocrine glands (sugar diabetes, thyrotoxicosis, addisonism, etc.) and hormonally active tumors (carcinoid, gastrinoma or Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, Werner-Morrison syndrome or pancreatic cholera, etc.);

6) collagen diseases (systemic scleroderma, dermatomyositis, etc.);

7) vitamin deficiencies (pellagra, beriberi, etc.);

8) allergic reactions;

9) neuroses.

The main pathogenetic mechanisms of diarrhea are reduced to two main factors: it is the accelerated passage of the contents through the intestine due to nervous and humoral influences (irritation of the intramural nerve plexuses or disorders of the central regulation of intestinal motility) and the delayed absorption of fluid from the intestinal lumen due to impaired permeability of the intestinal wall and abrupt shifts in the regulation of osmotic processes in the intestine.

At diarrhea absorption of water and electrolytes is usually reduced, the secretory function of the intestine can be increased, its motor activity, especially in the distal colon, is often reduced. In some cases, diarrhea is caused by increased propulsive intestinal motility (when exposed to certain psychogenic factors).

With diarrhea, bowel movements can be single or multiple during the day, abundant or scarce, depending on the cause that caused the diarrhea, as well as on the localization of the main pathological process in the intestine.

In order to clarify the cause of diarrhea, it is necessary to find out the frequency and nature of the stool, the time of the urge to defecate, the presence of tenesmus, the age at which diarrhea occurred, the frequency and duration of remission, the effect of the disease on the patient's performance and body weight, previous operations and diseases.

Suddenly started stormy diarrhea with frequent stools, tenesmus, especially suspicious for acute intestinal infections. In some cases, acutely onset diarrhea may be due to changes in the diet or intake of irritating bowel agents (including laxatives), or it is the first sign of chronic nonspecific bowel disease and its functional disorders.

Often, the clarification of the time of day at which the patient develops diarrhea has a differential diagnostic value. Nocturnal diarrhea is almost always organic, while diarrhea in the morning can be more often functional.

The frequency of stool for diarrhea can be different - from single bowel movements to multiple, several dozen times a day. In patients with lesions of the small intestine (enteritis), stools are less frequent than in colitis.

The most common stool occurs when the distal colon is affected. Large one-time stool volume occurs only in patients with normal function of the distal colon.

In this case, the pathological process is localized in the small intestine or in the proximal sections, typical for patients with enteritis, chronic pancreatitis. In these patients, there is no imperative urge to defecate or tenesmus during defecation.

Diarrhea with lesions of the distal colon is characterized by frequent and imperative urge to defecate, a small one-time volume feces, often by the content of blood and mucus in it. This is most often seen in colitis patients, who usually have a small amount of stool.

When the small intestine is damaged, the absorption of nutrients is impaired, as a result of which a larger than usual volume of chyme enters the proximal colon. If the reservoir function of the colon is not changed, then the frequency of stool in the patient does not exceed
2-3 times a day. However, the daily and one-time stool volume and mass turn out to be much more than normal.

Pain sensations with lesions of the small intestine are localized - always in the umbilical region. The defeat of the proximal colon is accompanied by pain most often in the right iliac region, with intensification after eating.

When the distal colon is affected, the pain is localized in the left iliac region with irradiation to the sacrum. The eye is significantly weakened after defecation or passing gas.

In some cases, diarrhea alternates with constipation, more often with functional disorders, abuse laxatives means, with a wound of the large intestine, with chronic (habitual) constipation, when, due to a long stay of feces in the intestine, there is an increased formation of mucus with the release of liquid feces.

Considering the symptoms associated with diarrhea can provide valuable diagnostic information. So, tenesmus that occurs before and after defecation is more often observed with damage to the distal colon; persistent diarrhea with short-term "hot flashes" (purple coloration of the face) is characteristic of carcinoid syndrome, diarrhea with bloating and rumbling for enterocolitis; with diarrhea caused by the pathology of the endocrine glands, other signs of endocrinopathies are revealed; diarrhea in collagen diseases is accompanied by characteristic changes in the skin, internal organs, musculoskeletal system, etc.

Significant assistance in differential diagnosis is provided by examination and examination of feces. Light and frothy stools without mucus and blood are typical for fermentative, and mushy or liquid, dark brown with a pungent "putrid odor" for putrid dyspepsia. Loose, fetid-smelling stools with a lot of mucus can occur with acute or chronic enterocolitis.

In a number of pathological conditions, the color of feces changes, which is determined by the qualitative composition of food, the degree of its processing by enzymes, and the presence of impurities. Discolored whitish-gray stools occur with acholia (due to obstructive jaundice), sometimes this color becomes feces with an abundant admixture of pus and mucus. Tar-like stools appear when bleeding from the upper digestive tract, when bleeding from the distal parts of the stool has a bright red or dark red tint. The black color of the stool is characteristic of mercury poisoning.

The color of the stool changes when taking some drugs containing bismuth, activated carbon, etc. (vikalin, allochol, carbolene, etc.). An admixture of visible undigested food residues in the feces may indicate a sharp acceleration of the passage of food through the gastrointestinal tract, which is more often observed with enterocolitis, after resection of the small intestine and with fistulas of the digestive tract, and less often with functional disorders of the intestine and secretory insufficiency of the stomach or pancreas.

Diarrhea can be one of the manifestations of many acute and chronic diseases. Among the acute ones, gastrointestinal infections occupy a special place. In their diagnosis, the epidemiological history is of great importance. Group diarrhea is always suspicious of an infectious nature. Meanwhile, some cases of gastrointestinal infections do not have a characteristic epidemiological anamnesis.

Salmonellosis usually occurs in the form of acute gastroenteritis (abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea) with general intoxication, fever. They occur after consuming meat products contaminated with salmonella. A similar clinical picture develops with staphylococcal food toxicoinfection after eating infected dairy and sweet foods, mainly.

Stool odor

The smell of stool is unpleasant, but not harsh - this is the norm.
- The smell of discharge from the intestines is practically absent - only in people leading a healthy lifestyle, eating a strict plant-based diet, in good health.
- With the predominance of meat products in the diet, the smell of stool increases.
- With an increase in the proportion of plant and dairy products, the odor decreases.
- With a mixed random diet with any set of foods eaten in a row, the smell of secretions increases, and gases are formed in the intestines.
- With constipation, the odor may diminish.
- With diarrhea, the smell can increase sharply.
- With putrefactive dyspepsia, characteristic of colitis, - the smell of feces is sharp fetid (gives off hydrogen sulfide).
- With fermentative dyspepsia, characteristic of enteritis, - the smell of stool is sour.
Some remarks.
- The toilet in the bathroom must have a bed for stool - then you can use the provided self-diagnosis of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and adjust the diversity in diet and lifestyle.
- Poisoning by radioactive substances can be directly related to faecal disorders.
- The intestines of a hypersthenic are thick, long and capacious. Has increased motility and secretion of the stomach, secretion and absorption functions of the intestines. A hypersthenic person may suffer from constipation or diarrhea and suffer from gastritis with high acidity.
- The asthenic has a thin-walled intestine, short and low capacity. Has impaired gastric motility and secretion, intestinal secretion and absorption functions are relatively low. A hyposthenic person may have a tendency to diarrhea or constipation and suffer from gastritis with low acidity.

10 sensitive but important facts about stool

We all go to the toilet, and while this is not a topic for a dinner party, we sometimes need to look at what we usually try to flush down the toilet as soon as possible. And although we pay little attention to this detail of our physiology, most likely you know little or ask someone about your great need.

Experts emphasize that it is important to know information about bowel movements: what is strange, what is normal, healthy or not. Ultimately, it can help detect signs of infection, digestive problems, and even early signs of cancer.

1. What is the chair made of?

Water makes up about 75 percent of our bowel movements. The rest is what often smells unpleasant for us, is a mixture of fiber, dead and living bacteria, other cells and mucus. Soluble fiber in foods such as beans and nuts breaks down during digestion and forms a gel-like substance that becomes part of our stools.

On the other hand, foods with insoluble fiber like corn, oat bran and carrots are harder to digest, which explains why they come out almost unchanged.

2. Color matters

As you may have noticed, stool color can change depending on the food you consume and other factors. This can cause beets to turn red and green leafy vegetables to green. Also, some medicines can cause white or clay colored stools. Be careful if the stool turns black. While it can be harmless when taking iron supplements or activated charcoal, a dark color can also indicate upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

3. Shape matters too

The ideal chair comes out in the shape of a curved log rather than falling apart. This shape, in contrast to the pebble-like shape, is the result of the consumption of fiber, which gives the stool volume and serves as a kind of gluing agent.

Thin stools can be a sign of bowel cancer, which narrows the opening through which stools pass.

4. The nose will prompt the problem

Your bowel movements don't smell good, but a particularly pungent stool odor is often a sign of infection. Bad-smelling stools are a side effect of digestive upset caused by giardia, which can often be caught while swimming in lakes. It can also be a sign of ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and celiac disease.

5. What's normal is pretty relative.

Do you go to the bathroom at the same time every morning, or can you skip going for a few days? This is all normal. The main thing is how constant your regimen is. A significant decrease in the frequency of bowel movements can be caused by dietary changes, such as less fiber intake. Other factors that affect the incidence of stool include gastrointestinal upset, hyperthyroidism, and colon cancer.

Cultural differences play a role too. For example, people living in the countries of southern Asia are much more likely to go to the toilet out of great need than, for example, the British, due to differences in nutrition. On average, a person leaves about 150 grams of excrement per day, which is an average of 5 tons for a lifetime.

6. Diarrhea is fast stool

Digestion of food takes 24 to 72 hours. During this time, the food you have eaten passes through the esophagus into the stomach, then into the small intestine, colon, and out through the anus.

Diarrhea or diarrhea is the result of stool passing too quickly through the large intestine, where most of the water is absorbed. Loose stools can be caused by many factors, including stomach viruses and food poisoning. It can also result from food allergies and intolerances such as lactose intolerance.

7. The chair must sink

Listen for the sound of your stool dropping into water. Floating stools are often a sign of a high fat content, which can be a sign of malabsorption, in which not enough fat and other nutrients are absorbed from the food you eat. It is often associated with celiac disease and chronic pancreatitis.

8. Venting is normal.

Flatulence is embarrassing, but it is the result of harmless bacteria breaking down food in the large intestine, and it's a perfectly healthy process. Our intestines are filled with bacteria that release gas as a byproduct of digestion. Our body absorbs some of this, and releases the rest. It is considered normal to release gases 10 to 18 times a day.

9. Reading on the toilet is not a very healthy habit

Studies have shown that the more time you spend on the toilet, especially reading, the more likely you are to develop hemorrhoids or dilated blood vessels around your anus. The longer you sit, the more pressure the anus will have. It can also restrict blood flow to the anal area, which makes hemorrhoids worse.

Most often, a diet poor in fiber leads to constipation and the occurrence of hemorrhoids.

10. Your phone may be covered in excrement

Wash your hands well after using the toilet or your chair will move onto other objects. In a recent study, researchers found that one in six phones is covered in fecal matter, which can spread E. coli.

Since we carry mobile phones with us everywhere, especially where we eat, E. coli on your plate can play a role in the spread of infection.

Vladimir Godlevsky about feces

Shit ... shit (English), sсheisse (German) - these words familiar to every intelligent person are daily present in his speech, constantly heard on the radio and TV. We often use this word for the emotional assessment of people, objects, situations. Since childhood, everyone is familiar with the maxim "shit doesn't sink", we accept it as the truth, without correlating its content with personal experience and scientific data. But the problem of unsinkable shit is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. Being a non-specialist in the field of physics and chemistry of feces, I just started to speculate on this topic, although this subject is studied by a special branch of medical sciences - scatology, and scientists who are versed in it are called scatologists or, in Russian, - experts on the topic.

What should we, amateurs, amateur producers and researchers of feces, know about this very, seemingly close and understandable, but sometimes mysterious product?

1) Origin and composition

Feces - a set of solid waste products, which are in a plastic state convenient for transportation through the intestines. The composition of feces generally depends on the nature of the diet and the function of the digestive tract. Feces are formed in the large intestine and consist of food debris, mainly plant fiber. It contains undigested and digested food, but there can also be ovarian glands, and the worms themselves, if they have taken root in the body.

Part of the mass of feces is made up of living and dead microbes. About a third of the composition is represented by various bacteria and bacilli, which corresponds to the intestinal microflora. There may be foreign inclusions, (swallowed something), blood clots and other dregs, which can be used to determine the health of a living organism and its interests in nutrition.

The history of shit contains a lot of interesting things. So, among drug couriers, a method has taken root to transport containers of heroin in the digestive system of their body. The border guards, sensitive with their eyes and nose, expose the reptiles and mercilessly feed them with laxatives, receiving feces mixed with heroin capsules in special vases. For this procedure, the customs have special rooms equipped with intensive ventilation. When our President Yeltsin was in America, the CIA, as a result of a technically complex intelligence operation, caught his excrement in the hotel's sewer system - and an analysis of the best American govology specialists gave a complete picture of the state of B.N. We can figuratively say that here our counterintelligence officers have crap.

2) Organoleptic characteristics

These include the shape, color, smell, plasticity, smell indicates the presence of decay of proteins. Hydrogen sulfide, mercaptan, amines, and so on. The light brown color of feces is pleasant to the eye due to stercobilin. If the secretion of bile is disturbed, the feces acquire a light gray or sandy color.

Stool color changes with bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract. With profuse bleeding in the stomach or duodenum, it turns black. The lower the source of bleeding is, the more distinct the red color of the stool. Some medicines (carbolene, bismuth, iron preparations, etc.) and plant food pigments (for example, beets) also affect the color of feces.

The smell of feces depends on the presence in it of decay products of food debris, mainly of a protein nature. With pronounced putrefactive processes in the intestine (putrefactive dyspepsia, decay of a tumor), the feces become fetid, with the predominance of fermentation processes, it acquires an sour odor. The feces of vegetarians are almost odorless. It is believed that this fact often attracts people to a vegetarian diet.

The shape and consistency of feces depends on the water content in it. With mixed food, water makes up 75-80% of the feces. This is a pasty product, roughly corresponding in rheological characteristics to sour cream from a refrigerator or toothpaste from a tube. The density of the stool indicates problems with the digestive system. Observing domestic animals, we see a wide variety of spatial forms expelled by the body of feces: "peas" of sheep feces, "potatoes" - horse, cow "cakes". An observant researcher can be convinced that a person's feces can also take on various, often bizarre shapes, which indicate possible digestive problems or disease:

Dense or "sheep" feces - stenosis or spasm of the colon, with constipation;

Gruelous feces - accelerated evacuation from the colon;

Oily feces - in case of violation of the secretion of the pancreas, the absence of bile flow;

Liquid feces - insufficient digestion in the small intestine (putrid dyspepsia, accelerated evacuation) and colon (increased secretion in the large intestine);

Foamy feces - with fermentative dyspepsia;

- "pea soup" - with typhoid fever;

- "rice water" - with cholera.

3) Why doesn't shit sink?

Shit is a very interesting three-phase colloidal system: it contains solid, liquid and gaseous phases together. Their volumetric ratio is precisely due to the phenomena of buoyancy and flooding in the aquatic environment. The emergence of shit in the aquatic environment is due to its density. And the predominance of cellulose (cellulose) in its composition already determines the fact that the density will be 800 ... 900 kg / m3.

This mass does not sink because of the fiber of which food is composed, all substances useful to the body are dissolved with acid. In their place, micropores are formed which give the feces buoyancy. The quasi-solid mass is filled with gas bubbles formed as a result of the metabolism of coprophage bacteria. (similar to the structure of "air" chocolate "Vispa"). If the feces are in the aquatic environment for a long time, the pores are gradually displaced from its volume. Wait a little, when they are full, and then the feces can drown or even dissolve without a trace. The more plant foods you have, the longer the shit won't sink. According to the observations of leading American scientists from the Institute of Stool Problems, the positive buoyancy of freshly produced shit lasts up to five hours.

The characteristic odor of feces is due to its gas component. There is hydrogen sulphide H2S, which is one and a half times heavier than air. Inevitably, CH4 methane is also present in the gas phase, which is two times lighter than air, so that at a certain critical concentration, shit can not only float up, but even, in principle, fly up. Unfortunately, the buoyancy of shit in environments other than water (for example, in organic solvents) has not been studied enough. For example, in hydrocarbons and benzene, it seems to me, it must certainly sink.

Thus, from objective data, it can be seen that the extreme buoyancy of shit was attributed purely from social motivations and allegorical definitions.

4) How useful is the assessment of the buoyancy of shit?

The widespread belief that "shit doesn't sink" is generally wrong. Numerous experiments show this. The state of our feces in the toilet carries important information. This is one of the indicators of our health. "Good" feces should not float, rising high above the surface, but at the same time, it should not sink quickly, like a stone, to the bottom. The best stool should be in a semi-warm position. Other conditions are abnormalities.

If the feces do not sink, but are in an unsinkable state and seem to float above the surface (like a piece of foam), then this indicates an excessive gas contamination of its structure. This is wrong, but still not so bad. Worse, when the feces sinks abruptly, goes to the bottom like a stone, which means that the body is heavily slagged, and intestinal bacteria either do not work at all, or work poorly, they cannot saturate the feces with gases.

So periodically pay attention to the state of your stool in the toilet. This is your product! Look closely at it, sniff, study the contents - and draw useful conclusions.

I wish you health!