About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffDiarrhea describes loose, watery stools that occur more frequently than usual. You may also experience abdominal cramps and a greater volume of stool. Diarrhea varies in specific symptoms, severity and duration.
Acute diarrhea usually lasts for a few days and is typically caused by an infection of some sort — caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites.
Chronic diarrhea persists longer than does acute diarrhea, generally longer than four weeks. Chronic diarrhea can indicate a serious disorder, such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease, or a less serious condition, such as irritable bowel syndrome.
- Diarrhea. National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/diarrhea/index.htm. Accessed May 12, 2010.
- Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2010. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/200844987-2/0/2088/0.html. Accessed May 12, 2010.
- Schiller LR, et al. Diarrhea. In: Feldman M, et al. Sleisinger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/linkTo?type=bookHome&isbn=978-1-4160-6189-2&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-6189-2..X0001-7--TOP&uniq=200844987-3. Accessed May 12, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on