Find a
Nutritionist,
Dietician & more

Advertisement

Related Programs

When Are Bowel Symptoms A Sign Of IBS? Bowel Symptoms and Bloating: Could it Be IBS? Cooking For People with Inflammatory Bowel Disease Diagnosis and Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Digestive Health Digestive Health Basics

Treating Diarrhea

Summary & Participants

Diarrhea usually goes away on its own, but in some cases medication and other forms of treatment are necessary. What are the options? Join our panel of gastroenterologists as they discuss the various treatments for diarrhea.

Medically Reviewed On: June 18, 2008

Webcast Transcript

DAVID MARKS, MD: Hi, and welcome to our webcast. I'm Dr. David Marks. Today we're talking about the treatment of diarrhea. There are almost as many treatments as there are causes of diarrhea, and it can all be a little confusing. Joining us to help sort through all these options are two experts.
First is Dr. Lucy Harris, a gastroenterologist at Cornell Medical Center. Welcome.

LUCINDA HARRIS, MS, MD: Thank you.

DAVID MARKS, MD: And her colleague from Cornell Medical Center is Dr. Mark Pochapin. He's also a gastroenterologist. Welcome.

MARK POCHAPIN, MD: Thanks.

DAVID MARKS, MD: There are a lot of options out there. How does someone know which one to choose?

LUCINDA HARRIS, MS, MD: I think it depends upon the cause of their diarrhea, to start with. If they are having an acute infectious diarrhea, it might not be unreasonable to try something like Pepto-Bismol. Some of the other things out there may not be as helpful, and certainly they want to use some of the agents that really stop the intestine, like Imodium and Lomotil, with great caution.

MARK POCHAPIN, MD: It's a difficult question, because very often diarrhea that occurs from the start, that is new and not something that a patient generally has, if they take medication for it, it could actually make the symptoms of cramping and bloating worse. Although it might stop the diarrhea, it might make them actually feel worse.

So if they're not doing too badly having the diarrhea, it's better for them just to drink plenty of fluids, especially fluids that have sugar and electrolytes to keep them hydrated, like Gatorade, and not try and stop things up so much.

DAVID MARKS, MD: There's something called the BRAT diet. What is that?

LUCINDA HARRIS, MS, MD: The BRAT diet is something that pediatricians often teach their patients, and that is to have, it stands for bananas, rice, apples, applesauce, tea and toast. Those are the things that are safe to eat when you have an acute diarrhea, and actually may help your symptoms.

DAVID MARKS, MD: Are there certain things that people should avoid at all costs when they have diarrhea?

MARK POCHAPIN, MD: Definitely. Without a doubt, milk and milk products. You know, when a baby gets diarrhea, most people who take care of little infants, children of their own, will know not to give that baby milk. They'll change the formula to some soy-containing formula. But as adults, we forget that.

Milk is very poorly absorbed when the intestine is inflamed or infected. So milk products, also fatty and greasy foods, and foods that contain a lot of sugar, usually in the form of fructose or sorbitol.

DAVID MARKS, MD: There are some malabsorption conditions that can also result in diarrhea. First tell us what they are, what the most common ones are, and then how to treat them.

Page 1 of 3 Next Page >>