Assessment
Questionnaire
Have a symptom?
See what questions
a doctor would ask.
See what questions
a doctor would ask.
During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques to assess the symptom: Diarrhea. These will include a physical examination and possibly diagnostic tests. (Note: A physical exam is always done, diagnostic tests may or may not be performed depending on the suspected condition) Your doctor will ask several questions when assessing your condition. It is important to openly share any pertinent information to help your doctor make an accurate diagnosis.
It is also very important to bring an up-to-date list of all of your all medical conditions, medications including dosages, and names of numbers of any specialist you see.
Create your printable checklist by answering questions that your doctor may ask below:
Privacy Statement
No private information is transferred over the internet. Do not use the "Browser back button", as this may cause data loss.
Why: to determine if acute or chronic. Acute diarrhea (without blood) is more likely to be infectious in nature e.g. staphylococcal toxin food poisoning, giardiasis, traveler's diarrhea, a virus or contaminated food. Chronic diarrhea has a large number of causes.
Why: the symptom diarrhea may be defined in a number of different ways. Some people complain of frequent stool (more than 3 per day being abnormal) or they may complain of a change in the consistency of the stools which have become loose or watery.
Why: e.g. high volume stools may be suggestive of infection (such as E.Coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio Cholerae), carcinoid syndrome, bowel polyp, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, magnesium antacids, lactose intolerance or after gastric surgery; small volume stools may suggest inflammatory bowel disease or colon cancer.
Why: e.g. fatty, pale colored, extremely smelly stools that float in the toilet and are difficult to flush away is called steatorrhea due to excess fat in the stool and are characteristic of malabsorption of nutrients which may be due to celiac disease, chronic pancreatitis, previous gastrectomy and cystic fibrosis.
Why: may suggest an infection (such as E.Coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholerae), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide secreting tumor, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, carcinoid syndrome and villous bowel polyp.
Why: may help in discovering the source of possible food poisoning.
Why: may suggest toxic staphylococcal gastroenteritis, Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter pylori.
Why: may suggest traveler's diarrhea, cholera, shigellosis, salmonellosis and giardiasis.
Why: e.g. recent antibiotics may predispose to pseudomembranous colitis; medications that can cause diarrhea include digitalis, diuretics, beta-blockers, aspirin, colchicines, other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications; overuse of laxative may also cause diarrhea.
Why: it is well known that alcohol can cause diarrhea.
Why: If acute diarrhea, may suggest Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter jejuni, ulcerative colitis and amebic dysentery. If chronic diarrhea, may suggest ulcerative colitis, bowel cancer, diverticulitis, amoebiasis, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome.
Why: suggests ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome.
Why: may suggest Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter jejuni and ulcerative colitis, severe amoebic dysentery or pseudomembranous colitis. May get a low grade temperature with traveler's diarrhea and toxic staphylococcal gastroenteritis.
Why: may suggest toxic staphylococcal gastroenteritis (which follows 2-4 hours after eating food poisoned with the toxin), traveler's diarrhea and viral gastroenteritis.
Why: may suggests irritable bowel syndrome.
Why: may suggest inflammatory bowel disease.
Why: e.g. double vision, blurred vision, sensitivity of the eyes to light, poor coordination and difficulty with speaking - may suggest botulism caused by the neurotoxin of clostridium botulinum which flourishes in preserved anaerobic food.
The following list of conditions have 'Diarrhea' or similar listed as a symptom in our database. This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause of any symptom.
Select from the following alphabetical view of conditions which include a symptom of Diarrhea or choose View All.
The following list of medical conditions have 'Diarrhea'
or similar listed as a medical complication in our database.
Tools & Services:
Medical Articles:
» Next page: Types of Diarrhea
Medical Tools & Articles:
Forums & Message Boards
Search Specialists by State and City
By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use. Information provided on this site is for informational purposes only; it is not intended as a substitute for advice from your own medical team. The information on this site is not to be used for diagnosing or treating any health concerns you may have - please contact your physician or health care professional for all your medical needs. Please see our Terms of Use.
Copyright © 2011 Health Grades Inc. All rights reserved. Last Update: 1 February, 2012 (3:10)
