Diarrhea

**Diarrhea** (DIE-uh-REE-uh), also spelled **diarrhoea**, happens when the body makes more watery feces than normal. Diarrhea can occur in humans as well as most other mammals.

## Causes

Diarrhea is not a disease. But it may be a symptom of a disease. The most common causes of diarrhea are:
- Viruses, like Norovirus (the most common cause of viral gastroenteritis—"stomach flu"—in humans)
- Bacteria, like _E. coli_ or _C. diff_
- Some medicines, especially antibiotics
- Food poisoning
- Lactose intolerance
- Artificial sweeteners, like sorbitol and mannitol, which are in many sugar-free food products like sugarless gum
- Other problems with the intestines, like Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome

## Child death

In developing nations, diarrheal diseases are the second most common cause of death in children under age 5. Every year in the world, diarrhea kills around 760,000 children under age 5.

In developing countries, diarrhea is also one of the most common causes of malnutrition in children under age 5.

When children die from diarrhea, the cause is often  dehydration (losing too much water from the body). Because diarrhea is watery, it takes away a lot of the water. It also takes away electrolytes—important salts that the body needs to survive. Dehydration is extra dangerous for small children because they have less water in their bodies to begin with. This means they cannot lose as much water as adults before they start to have serious health problems.

### Causes

In developing countries, diarrhea is usually caused by an infection in the intestines. These infections can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or parasites. These infections spread easily in some developing countries because of the following reasons:
- Unsafe drinking water. Bacteria, viruses, and parasites often get into the water, which people then have to drink. Anyone who drinks the water can then get an infection that causes diarrhea.
- Sanitation, with clean toilets, is often not available. This makes it easier for infections to spread.
- Clean water and soap for washing hands are often not available, either. If people cannot wash their hands, bacteria, viruses, or parasites can stay on their hands. These microbes can then enter the mouth or get spread to other people with handshaking.

### Preventing child deaths

Child deaths from diarrhea can be prevented in different ways.

#### Re-hydration

When a child is sick with diarrhea, the best way to keep them from dying is to rehydrate them (give them the water and electrolytes (salts) they are losing by having diarrhea). If the child can go to a clinic or hospital, this can be done by giving water and salts intravenously (through a needle placed into a vein).

If the child cannot go to a clinic or hospital, oral rehydration solution can be used. ("Oral" means "given by mouth"; a "solution" is a mixture.) Oral rehydration solution is a mixture of the most important things the body loses when it is dehydrated. These things are clean water, salt, and sugar. Some oral rehydration solutions have extra electrolytes, like potassium, in them also.

Some oral rehydration solutions come in packets and just need to be mixed with clean water. Oral rehydration solution can also be made at home. If the water in the area is not safe, it can be boiled to make it safe. (Boiling the water will kill any bacteria, viruses, or parasites in the water.) Salt and sugar are then mixed into the water. Drinking this mixture, after the water cools, will re-hydrate the child, if he drinks enough. Adding a banana or orange juice can add potassium to the mixture.

Breast milk will also re-hydrate a child with diarrhea.

#### Preventing diarrhea

There are some ways to prevent diarrhea, or the spread of diseases that cause diarrhea. However, some of these ways are expensive and difficult to do. These include:
- Making drinking water safe
- Making sanitation better
- Making clean water and soap available for hand washing

## Related pages

- Feces
- Bristol stool scale

## References

Culture of India

Introduction-
The culture of India refers to the way of life of the people of India.India's languages,dances,music, architecture,food and customs differs from place to place within the country.Many elements of India's diverse cultures such as Indian religion,yoga,Indian cuisine had a profound impact across the world.
Religion-
1.India is the birth place of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, collectively known as Indian Religions.
2.India is one of the most religiously diverse nations.
Spirituality-
Family-
Family plays a significant role in the Indian culture.India has a prevailing tradition of Hindu joint family system.
Marriage-
For centuries, arrenged marriages have been the tradition in Indian society through men and women have always had the choice of who they want to marry.The divorce rate is extremely low compared with about 50% in the United States.
Namaste-
Namaste,Namaskar,Namaskara,Namashkar and Vanakkam is a common spoken greeting in Indian sub continent.Taken deeply,it means "I BOW YOU".
Languages-
1.There are 415 living languages.
2.There are two official languages.They are English and Hindi.
3.Other languages include Gujarati,Marathi, Tamil,Telugu,Urdu,Sanskrit,Punjabi and many more.
Performing arts-
Indian dance too has diverse folk and classical forms.Among the well known folk dances are Bhangra from Punjab,Bihu from Assam,The Chhau from Jharkhand,Odishi from Odisha,Ghoomar from Rajasthan,
Dandiya and Garba from Gujarat and Lavani from Maharashtra.
Architecture-
Indian architecture has evolved through various ages in different regions of the country.Apart from these, natural and obvious evolution from the pre-historic and historic periods, evolution of Indian architecture was generally affected by the emergence and decay of great empires and dynasties in the sub-continent.
Cuisine-
The cuisine of India is classified into 3 major categories.They are-Sattva,Rajas and Tamas.
Clothing-
Traditional clothing in India greatly varies across different parts of the country.It is influenced immensely by the local geography and climate.Popular styles of dress include draped garments such as saree for women and Dhoti or Lungi for men,in addition,stiched clothes such as churidhar for women and kurta,pajama and European style trousers and shirts for men,are also popular.
Conclusion-
1.There is a great diversity among different regions of India in terms of language,cuisine,culture and dress.But through,we all are Indians.
2.We owe a lots of Indians who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could not have been made

## Infobox (medical condition)

- **name**: Frequent bowel movement and gastroenterolgy
- **image**: Gastroenteritis_viruses.jpg
- **caption**: Gastroenteritis shown above