Difference between diarrhea and dysentery

Diarrhea and dysentery are among those medical conditions which are often used as synonym terms but these both clinical conditions have clear differences. Below is a list of those differences.

Difference in target area:

In diarrhea more specifically watery diarrhea affected area is small bowl whereas dysentery targets the colon. Small bowl consist of fluid flux so whenever infection occur at small bowl part it produces watery diarrhea. ?Fluid contents in colon are smaller in proportion and if infection occurs at colon it does not cause watery diarrhea.



Difference in symptoms:

The stool of diarrhea is watery with or without cramps and pain but in dysentery patient complaints for mucoid stool (presence of mucus in stool) that is presented with blood.Fever is more common in dysentery than in diarrhea

Difference in mechanism:

There is clear difference between the mechanism of diarrhea and dysentery. For example when a person suffers from diarrhea the infection is located and targets only intestinal lumen and upper epithelial cells. ??Different antibiotics are used to treat this infection but these cannot remove the toxins which are secreted by causative micro-organisms. ?Death of cells is not resulted in this condition. Dehydration is only risk due to diarrhea.In case of dysentery not only upper epithelial cells are targeted but colon ulceration also results. This infection may also cause certain other complications as bacterimia.

If untreated:

If diarrhea is not treated it will recover within 2 or 3 days as our immune system work against the infection but if dysentery is not treated it could be very fatal.

Home remedies:

It would be helpful to use certain home remedies in both of these clinical conditions. It include

Drink lot of waterDo no take milkAvoid food which is rich in fats

Note:

Severe stage of diarrhea could lead to dysentery but the stools in dysentery also contain blood with fever.

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