Diarrhoea
Diarrhoea may be defined as an increase in the frequency or the fluidity of bowel motion. It may be caused by factors affecting the bowel contents (such as unabsorbed fats holding in more fluid, so-called osmotic diarrhoea) factors affecting the wall of the bowel causing increased cellular activity, such as occurs with infection by a bacterium in gastroenteritis or a cancer (producing so-called secretory diarrhoea), or by hormones acting to increase gut motility as happens with increased adrenalin in times of anxiety. In most cases diarrhoea is a self-limiting condition requiring no treatment other than fluid replacement. In the Western World it is no more than an inconvenience, but in the developing world it is a major cause of death in infancy.
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