DIARRHEA SEASON OPENED

Unlike the colder seasons, in the summer we are less prone to colds and unending influenzas. However, it would be wrong to be less vigilant because the holy place is never empty and winter infection can easily be replaced by summer ones, not very pleasant either and at times even more dangerous.

The summer is marked not only a temperature rise. The number of nutritional problems, including food poisoning, increases as well. This happens for the simple reason that there are a lot more factors capable of causing them in this part of the year. There are many perishable products, people tend to eat with unwashed hands when going out for a picnic, etc.

Even ancient philosophers believed that nutrition is one of the key factors determining a man's health. A doctor and a cook in one person was a tradition in Oriental philosophy. However, for the Western civilization too the creation of a food base has always been a guarantee of survival and the foundation for the prosperity of any state. It is no secret for anyone that the improved structure of nutrition not only improves the quality of life but also reduces diseases and mortality. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), even in developed countries about 50 per cent of the population experience the different effects of food poisoning every year, and the most dangerous of them is diarrhea (from Greek diarrheo - flow out).

Better to stay hungry than to eat everything 

A significant proportion of low quality food products in the domestic market spoil in transportation and storage. In fact, it is impossible to tell that with the naked eye and without the assistance of specialists. In the summer this problem becomes particularly alarming. Appropriate state institutions authorized to protect order in the markets do not sit still and regularly impound products unfit for consumption.

The national Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology (CHE) of the Ministry of Health always analyzes the food products being sold in the country and quite often discovers that they do not meet physical and chemical requirements. According to the head of the food hygiene department of the CHE, Imran Abdullayev, owners of shops are fined by the state for breaching the regulations on the production, storage and transportation of products, and for violating sanitary norms. Sometimes such retailers are closed because their negligence may lead to deplorable implications. He said that cases of food poisoning were already registered in late spring and early summer, but luckily there have been fatalities. 

Abdullayev added that the CHE is currently performing the expertise of ice-cream which is so  popular with the population in the summer. He said one of the key problems was the improper storage of it. Some retailers store ice-cream in fridges together with chicken and meat, which is a flagrant breach of storage conditions that may lead to food poisoning. Quite often the ice-cream which has melted due to improper temperature regimes is frozen again and then sold. This is a serious offence because the melting spoils dyes and other additives.

According to a source from the city emergency medical aid station, it would be wrong to say that the rate of food poisoning has reached catastrophic proportions. Doctors of the station say that particularly frequent are cases of poisoning from tinned food, fish, mushrooms, while sometimes unpleasant consequences can be brought about by fruit and vegetables. For example, several cases of tomato and water-melon poisoning have been registered this year.

Doctors also said that people often try to treat themselves on their own and do not ask for medical help. This too may lead to unpleasant implications which will eventually force a patient to seek doctoral advice.

Not only summer attack 

According to the statistics, diarrhea is the second most widespread post-catarrhal disease in the world. Diarrhea in itself is not a disease, it is only a sign of a disorder in the digestive system. The pediatrician and neurologist of the Avita pharmaceutical company, Tarana Tagizada, specialists divide diarrhea into infectious and non-infectious.

"It is worth mentioning that contrary to the widespread opinion, the reasons for diarrhea do not always lurk in the consumption of low-quality food. For instance, infectious diarrhea can be caused by bacteria, viruses, protozoan, Lamblia and fungi. One of the most frequent causes is rotavirus which was discovered in 1942 and did not draw due attention at the beginning," she said. Non-infectious diarrhea can also be caused by dysbacteriosis, which means imbalance in gut organisms, improper nutrition, including imbalanced diets (for example, too much tough vegetable food), low quality food, lack of digestive ferments, allergy to certain products such as cow milk, lack of vitamins K, F, B2 (riboflavin) and niacin, chronic diseases of digestive organs (gastritis, colitis, pancreatitis, hepatitis, etc.), acute poisoning (e.g. mercury or arsenic). Diarrhea can also be caused by improper metabolism, as well as neurosis, excitement and fear. There is also a travelers' diarrhea, which is caused by contamination of food and water with micro-organisms and mainly occurs on holiday.

Diarrhea can also be brought about by medicines, such as antibiotics, magnesium-containing antacids, food additives containing magnesium, all laxatives except for those leading to an enlargement of intestinal contents, etc. The spread of different causative agents and their seasonal concentration depend on climatic and geographic conditions. For instance, viral infections mainly observed in winter dominate the Northern Hemisphere. It would be appropriate to say that viral infections are more frequent in countries with a high level of socioeconomic development. This is illustrated by the same rotavirus infection which is encountered in 30-80 per cent of diseases in Western countries and only 20-40 per cent in developing regions of the world. Infectious diarrhea is also characterized by the seasonal nature. Bacterial diarrhea is mainly observed in the warm part of the year, while viral in cold seasons.

The symptoms of diarrhea cannot be taken for anything else. In particularly serious cases, a person simply "lives" in the toilet. In addition to stomach upset, a person may be suffering from stomach ache, gaseous distention, nausea and vomiting. A person loses appetite and loses weight. In foreign literature, diarrhea is divided into acute and chronic. Acute diarrhea mainly lasts one to two weeks. There is no precise information on when diarrhea should be seen as being chronic. Most authors suggest that this diagnosis should be established if stomach upset lasts for more than three months.

In the case of acute diarrhea, there are all signs of an infectious disease: fever, toxicosis, repeated liquid stools with foreign matter, including mucus and even blood.

Easier to prevent than to treat … 

This malady can affect each and every one of us, regardless of sex, condition and age. However, according to Tagizada, diarrhea in elderly and small kids is more dangerous due to the risk of loss of liquid (dehydration), sodium chloride and potassium, as well as other electrolytes. The most serious cases can lead to a fatality. According to the WHO, diarrhea claims the lives of about 2 million kids world over every year.

Dehydration is characterized by dizziness, dryness of mucous membranes, thirst, temporal and spatial disorientation or absence of reaction to external irritants, and sharpening of facial features.

Diarrhea is a consequence, and the fight should be waged against the causes. Thus, when treating bacterial diarrhea, antibiotics are prescribed. Diarrhea caused by vitamin insufficiency is treated with vitamin injections, while the diarrhea caused by dysbacteriosis is cured with the so-called probiotics which create a normal intestinal micro-flora. 

It is extremely important to prevent dehydration. Since regular drinking water does not contain sugar, mineral salts which the organism used due to diarrhea, it is necessary to compensate the loss by consuming liquids which contain these substances. For this, drinking tea with sugar, fruit juices, broths, mineral water or salted water with glucose. If diarrhea is also accompanied by vomiting, a patient has to drink at least some liquid every 15-20 minutes. It is also important to go on a diet: eat frequently but in little portions, not to eat greasy food, not to drink coffee and milk.

In acute cases of diarrhea, there has to be a sparing diet: white bread dentils, fatless meat or fish soups, steamed meat or fish chops, soft-boiled eggs, rice, oatmeal, buckwheat porridge and semolina, fresh curds, juice, tea and black coffee. However, such a diet cannot last longer than five days, while afterwards it is necessary to go back to a normal diet. It must always be remembered that self-treatment is not a way out and it is best to seek qualified medical aid, Tagizada said.

She also mentioned that diarrhea is often referred to as the disease of dirty hands, therefore, it is important not only to treat it but also to prevent it in good time. 

The most effective method of preventing acute diarrhea and a traveler's diarrhea is to observe personal hygiene. When you are away from home, a simple rule can help you avoid this unpleasant disease: "If you can't boil or clean, don't eat."