Blood in the feces

The digestive tract is one long tube that coils from the esophagus to the anus. In some places it narrows, in others it expands. Blood in the stool can arise anywhere on its way. The color of the blood will tell you whether the bleeding has occurred high (in the esophagus or stomach) or low (in the large intestine or rectum).

Black bowel movements usually mean that blood descends from the upper part of the digestive tract - esophagus, stomach or duodenum. Blood becomes black during the time it needs to go from the beginning of the gastrointestinal tract to the end. But if you have diarrhea and your intestinal tract is very active, so that its contents move fast, the blood will be red, because it did not have time to blacken. At least two teaspoons of blood should be poured out to make the stool black. It seems that this is not much, but such "light" blood loss for a long time can cause acute anemia. Gastritis due to excess alcohol, daily intake of aspirin or other irritant drugs that corrode the intestinal mucosa may be accompanied by such bleeding. The same applies to peptic ulcers and cancer . In fact, the conditions under which black stools are observed are the same as those caused by vomiting with blood. The only difference is that in one case the blood goes "to the north", and in the other - "to the south."

Do not think, however, that black stools always indicate the presence of blood. Incorrect coloring can be, for example, from such harmless things as iron- containing preparations that you take. A chair, black with blood, resembles tar in consistency. Activated charcoal (it is usually taken with excessive formation of gases) will make the feces black, as well as liquorice and blueberries. Soothing products and preparations that prevent diarrhea, which includes bismuth, give the chair a greenish-black color.

Bleeding from the middle part of the intestinal tract, i.e. From the small intestine, gives an intermediate color - chestnut.

Blood that occurs in the large intestine or rectum will be bright red. However, just as black stools can be caused by iron, and not by blood, red stools can arise from beets that you ate the night before.

Whatever the color of your feces, do not rely on your impressions. Always check to be sure. You can do this with home kits or hand over the feces to the laboratory for analysis.

Another cardinal rule: blood in the stool should mean cancer , until something else is proven. Statistically, it is much more likely that the presence of blood is due to hemorrhoids. But you are not a statistician and you can easily make a mistake. The most dangerous situation is one in which you have chronic hemorrhoids and at the same time develops a cancer higher in the intestine. Cancer signals your presence with blood, and you continue to think that it is because of your hemorrhoids.

Therefore, if you have long-standing bleeding in the intestine, be examined from time to time. This does not mean that you should visit a doctor every time you find blood in the stool, but be checked at least once a year.

The appearance of blood in the feces requires examination, and it usually includes sigmoidoscopy, a colonoscopy, or an enema with barium. The diagnosis may be local irritation, hemorrhoids, inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis or ileitis Crohn), a bacterial infection or a parasite that you picked up on a recent trip. Some antibiotics (erythromycin, lincomycin) can cause ulceration of the intestines - and bleeding. The same effect is caused by potassium-coated tablets (prescribed to compensate for the loss of potassium when taking diuretics), sexual intercourse through the anus and insertion of any foreign body into the anus. Some anomalies of the intestinal vessels, which you do not know about, can also cause bleeding.

When arteriosclerosis narrows the arteries that feed the intestines, the latter lacks oxygen in the same way as it does with the heart and the brain. Among the emerging symptoms are abdominal pain and blood in the stool. Suspect such arteriosclerosis, if you are an elderly person, you have abdominal pain after eating and bleeding and if all the usual tests for gastrointestinal examination are normal. But remember that the supply of the intestine with blood can be blocked by other mechanisms, such as embolism or a blood clot.

Diverticulosis , a condition that is most often observed in people with chronic constipation, is caused by the presence of small, finger-like protrusions (diverticula) in the intestine. While these bags are not inflamed, there are no problems. But from time to time they become infected, and diverticulosis becomes a diverticulitis . Then you feel sick - you have fever, pain and sometimes blood in the stool. Diverticulitis can sometimes end in perforation of the intestine. Previously thought that the disease is caused by eating nuts, seeds and a lot of fiber, but the theory is wrong. Today, doctors acknowledge that they do not know the causes of the attacks of diverticulitis and that fiber in fact helps to prevent them.

So, what directions can lead you to the correct diagnosis, if you saw the blood in your feces?

If the blood streams on the surface of the stool, and not in themselves, and if, in addition, it is on toilet paper and in the toilet, then the source probably lies in the rectum or anus - hemorrhoids or scratches that have arisen after passing a massive, Solid feces.

If the blood in the stools themselves, and not on the surface, suspect cancer , although polyps can also cause bleeding. Cancer is most likely if the stool began to look narrow, like a tape, and your way (walking around a lot) has changed (before everything was regular, and now you have diarrhea alternating with constipation). Also, with any tumor, benign or malignant, in those cases where it is significant and located in the large intestine, there may be a feeling that you still have something left after you went to the toilet.

If you are sick at bowel movement, you probably have hemorrhoids or abrasions (fissures ) in the rectum or anus. But if you have abdominal pain that is not associated with defecation, then the blood in your bowel movements may indicate colitis, infection, vascular disorders in the intestine, or a tumor . If you have diarrhea that comes and goes, the appearance of blood is more likely to result from cancer, infection or colitis than with hemorrhoids. The latter usually covers when the nodes are damaged with dense feces or with strong tension during defecations.

If you have weakness or dizziness after losing blood from the intestine, this is a bad sign. It usually means that you have lost more than 20% of the total volume of your blood. Go to the hospital as quickly as possible!

There are other stool color changes that have nothing to do with bleeding, but can, despite this, be important. If you have recently been given a barium enema or you have taken barium to examine the upper gastrointestinal tract, you will notice that your stool is white, pink or at least lightened for several days. How long this will last depends on how vigorous your bowel contractions are. Do not worry, the stools will eventually get their normal coloring. But the stool may appear white when it is covered with mucus due to colitis or irritation of the intestine.

If your feces are gray or greenish-black, you either took medications containing bismuth, or you have little bile pigments in your bowel movements. These pigments give them a brown color. Bile is formed in the liver, stored in the gallbladder, then descends the duct into the intestine, where it mixes with the digestion products, giving them a normal brown color. Anything that prevents the passage of bile from the liver or bladder into the intestine will give you a stool that resembles clay in color. What could be the reason? For example, a stone in the bile duct. In this case, you will have pain in the right upper abdomen, temperature and, as a result of blockage, bile pigments enter the bloodstream, jaundice. If the stone has passed by itself or it has been removed, jaundice and clay color of stool disappear. If the gray color of the stool develops gradually and is not accompanied by symptoms of gallbladder disease, then it is not a stone, but something else, a blockage duct. This is troubling, since the most common cause is pancreatic cancer.

Acquire the habit of glancing at your chair (as well as on urine, saliva and any other discharge of the body). It can help you recognize the problem at an early stage and correct it in time. In fact, this is probably the most important stage of self-examination that you can do.

Symptom: blood in the bowel movement