Diarrhea
What Are the Best Drugs for a Desert Island Adve…
Remember Robinson Crusoe? He was the protagonist in a novel written by Daniel Defoe that was published in 1719. Crusoe was stranded on a desert island for 28 years before being rescued. A modern versi…
Is Acidophilus an Antidote for Dreadful Diarrhea…
Diarrhea that comes and goes suddenly and unpredictably can be a serious problem even if it is not connected to a serious diagnosis. People who have this experience may become reluctant to leave home,…
People with IBS Worry about FDA Crackdown on Imo…
Sometimes the FDA takes actions that make people nervous. Concerns about abuse of the anti-diarrhea drug loperamide (Imodium) have the agency considering restrictions on this over-the-counter product.…
Can Kefir Help You Recover from an Infection?
Have you been looking for a way to boost your immune system? Especially during the season when colds and flu are rampant, many people would like to know how to recover from an infection more readily. …
Should You Worry About Germs on Your Coffee Cup …
Do you pay attention when you visit your local coffee shop? Can you observe the person who fills your mug or places the lid on your paper cup? Does that person wear disposable gloves? We are constantl…
Will Poop Pills Stop Deadly Diarrhea?
Doctors may soon be offering some of their patients with serious diarrhea a very unusual prescription: capsules filled with frozen poop from healthy people. Technically, of course, these poop pills co…
If Metformin Causes Diarrhea, Will Kefir Help?
One of the most useful-and widely used-medications for type 2 diabetes, metformin, is known to cause digestive distress for some of the people who take it. One reader found, however, that drinking the…
Recurrent Diarrhea Is More Common, Harder to Tre…
Clostridium difficile infections can cause life-threatening diarrhea. Experts estimate that half a million people contract C diff infections annually and nearly 30,000 die. Once people develop C diff,…
Is Black Poop Something to Worry About?
Pepto-Bismol has been around for more than 100 years. The original formula was developed by a physician to treat severe diarrhea brought on by cholera. He sold his invention directly to other doctors.…
Overlooked Antibiotic Side Effects Can Destroy L…
Antibiotics are amazing. The discovery of penicillin was one of the greatest advances in modern medicine. But Americans love of antibiotics has gotten out of hand. They think of such drugs as magic bu…
Do People on PPIs Have More Infectious Diarrhea?
Is it smart to block the production of stomach acid with powerful proton pump inhibitor drugs (PPIs)? Millions of people take these drugs to control acid reflux, ulcers or gastroesophageal reflux…
Can Special Yogurt Prevent Diarrhea and Constipa…
Chronic diarrhea is a vexing problem. Occasional diarrhea is generally a symptom rather than an ongoing condition. It may be a signal that you ate something that caused an infection. In other instanc…
How to Improve Digestive Health with a Poop Tran…
How do you feel about poop? Most people prefer not to talk about it. That's why we have so many euphemisms: number two, stool, feces, manure, crap or BM for bowel movement. No wonder you probably neve…
Life-Threatening Reaction to Diarrhea Medicine
The gold standard diarrhea medicine in the pharmacy is loperamide, also sold under the brand name Imodium. It is used to treat conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease or colitis that can cause…
How to Treat Your Child’s Diarrhea
When children develop diarrhea, parents are often advised to give them an electrolyte solution such as Pedialyte to prevent dehydration. The goal is to both replace fluids and minerals. Home Treatment…
How to Calm Chronic Diarrhea with Fenofibrate
Chronic difficulties with the digestive tract can be extremely challenging. Inflammatory bowel disease is notorious, of course, as a potentially life-threatening condition. But even problems that are …
Desperate Diarrhea Victim Saved by Coconut Macar…
If it happens in Mexico we call it "Montezuma's Revenge." In India an attack would be "Delhi Belly" and in Russia travelers call it the "Trotskis." When it happens at home we simply call it diarrhea. …
Is Sugarless Gum Too Dangerous for Teens?
Q. I take exception to your advice to a fourteen-year-old having trouble with constipation. You suggested chewing sugarless gum. That is terrible advice for a teenager. Our seventeen-year-old granddau…
Coconut Macaroon Cookies Defeat Diarrhea
Coping with a chronic condition such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can be very challenging. Although it is not considered a disease per se, people with IBS often have to deal with crippling consti…
Home Remedies: Chance Favors the Prepared Mind
How do people discover home remedies? Who decided, for example, that nine is the correct number of gin-soaked raisins to eat each day to relieve the pain of arthritis? Who thought of daubing castor oi…
Travelers Beware: Scary Germs Survive a Long Tim…
If you are traveling for summer vacation, it makes sense to pack soap or hand sanitizer where you can get to it easily. Car travelers may find that rest stops are not as well-equipped for hand-washin…
Probiotic Treatment Cuts Illness among Children …
Young children given probiotics seem to suffer from fewer daycare-related illnesses. Parents of preschoolers know that they seem to pass around a large number of infections, partly because toddlers ma…
Poop Transplant Can Reverse Deadly Diarrhea
Q. A friend of mine almost died from C diff diarrhea that she developed after taking the antibiotic clindamycin. She had to be hospitalized for two weeks, and she had bad diarrhea at least 30 times a …
Outbreaks on Cruise Liners Offer Lessons for Hos…
We asked readers the question, "Are You Concerned about Coffee Cup Contamination?" This was in response to a query by a visitor to this website who worried about catching a cold or the flu because the…
Is the Salad in Your Fridge Contaminated with E.…
Here we go again...another serious food scare. This is a U.S. Department of Agriculture Class I recall, ie, "a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the produ…
Salmonella Poisoning from Chicken Products Has S…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a public health alert this week that hundreds of people in 18 states have come down with Salmonella poisoning. An unusually large number of them have needed h…
How to Enjoy Yogurt Despite Lactose Intolerance
Q. Actually this is not a question but an answer. On your radio show a caller with lactose intolerance asked about eating yogurt. I am also lactose intolerant and have come up with a very good solutio…
Therapeutic Poop for Serious Diarrhea
Chronic diarrhea caused by the bacterium Clostridium difficile can be extremely hard to treat. C. diff, as it is called, may be a consequence of antibiotic treatment that knocks out beneficial intesti…
Coconut Defeats Debilitating Diarrhea
We were surprised back in 1998 when we got a letter from a reader about coconut. Donald Agar of Pittsfield, Massachusetts had suffered with Crohn's disease for 40 years. He discovered through serendip…
Cookie Power for Devastating Diarrhea!
Q. Sorry to repeat a question I know you've answered, but at the time I didn't know someone with the problem. My niece has recently been diagnosed with Crohn's disease and in spite of medication is i…
An Effective but Extreme Diarrhea Treatment
When people are given certain antibiotics such as clindamycin they sometimes develop a devastating diarrhea that can become life threatening. Here are just a few of the scores of stories we have recei…
Overdosing on Chocolate Causes Disastrous Diarrh…
Q. Recently we bought some sugar-free chocolates. All four of us who "indulged" got intestinal upsets of varying degrees. When we called the candy store to report a possible food-poisoning problem, th…
Probiotics to Prevent Diarrhea
When people take antibiotics they frequently experience diarrhea as a side effect. That's because broad spectrum antibiotics often upset the natural balance of flora in our digestive tracts. A new rev…
Coconut Cookies Eased Crohn’s Symptoms
Q. My niece has Crohn's disease and has suffered from unremitting diarrhea for months. She started eating homemade macaroon cookies (1 per day, 12.5 grams of dried coconut per macaroon). As a result, …
Coconut Cookies Calm Chronic Diarrhea
Q. After months of daily diarrhea, my teenage son just underwent biopsies and was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. Gluten can sometimes be irritating for people with Crohn's, so we are trying to avoid …
Clindamycin Can Cause Disastrous Diarrhea
In June of 2009 we answered the following question about the antibiotic clindamycin: "Q. For an abscessed tooth, I was given a prescription antibiotic called clindamycin. Ever since I took it, I have …
How to Treat Diarrhea
Learn how to treat diarrhea in this video with Joe Graedon.…
Pomegranate Recipe Eases Diarrhea
Q. My grandmother administered, with great success, a pomegranate 'infusion' for treating diarrhea. She would cut the fruit in half and boil it in water and reduce it. It's nasty tasting but effective…
Be Careful with Uncooked Chicken
Food safety is a growing concern in the U.S. A recent report from Consumers Union suggests that contaminated chickens are much too common. Investigators purchased 382 fresh broiler chickens from 100 g…
Coconut Calms Spastic Colon
Q. After reading about coconut macaroon cookies against diarrhea, I took them for my spastic colon. They worked. But then I went on vacation and could not find the cookies when I needed them. So I ate…