For a diagnosis of Chronic diarrhea, the following list of conditions have been mentioned in sources as possible alternative diagnoses to consider during the diagnostic process for Chronic diarrhea:
The other diseases for which Chronic diarrhea is listed as a possible alternative diagnosis in their lists include:
Commonly undiagnosed conditions in related areas may include:
Diarrhea can be related to food substitute: The food ingredient, Sorbitol, is often used as a sweetener in diet products. In some people, this substance can lead to diarrhea or other symptom symptoms. In severe cases, this condition may be called Sorbitol intolerance. See other causes of diarrhea.
Chronic digestive conditions often misdiagnosed: When diagnosing chronic symptoms of the digestive tract, there are a variety of conditions that may be misdiagnosed. The best known, irritable bowel syndrome, is over-diagnosed, whereas other causes that are less known may be overlooked or misdiagnosed: celiac disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis (both are called inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)), diabetic gastroparesis, diabetic diarrhea. Other possibilities include giardia, colon cancer, or other chronic infections.
Intestinal bacteria disorder may be hidden cause: One of the lesser known causes of diarrhea is an imbalance of bacterial in the gut, sometimes called intestinal imbalance. The digestive system contains a variety of "good" bacteria that aid digestion, and they can decline for various reasons, leading to digestive symptoms such as diarrhea. The main treatment is to eat foods containing probiotics, typically yoghurt cultures. See intestinal imbalance and probiotics.
Antibiotics often causes diarrhea: The use of antibiotics are very likely to cause some level of diarrhea in patients. The reason is that antibiotics kill off not only "bad" bacteria, but can also kill the "good" bacteria in the gut. This leads to "digestive imbalance" where there are too few remaining "good" bacteria in the digestive system. The treatment is typically to use "probiotics", such as by eating yoghurt cultures containing more of the good bacteria. See digestive imbalance and probiotics.
Food poisoning may actually be an infectious disease: Many people who come down with "stomach symptoms" like diarrhea assume that it's "something I ate" (i.e. food poisoning). In fact, it's more likely to be an infectious diarrheal illness (i.e. infectious diarrhea), that has been caught from another person. Such conditions may be transmitted via the fecal-oral route.
Mesenteric adenitis misdiagnosed as appendicitis in children: Because appendicitis is one of the more feared conditions for a child with abdominal pain, it can be over-diagnosed (it can, of course, also fail to be diagnosed with fatal effect). One of the most common misdiagnosed is for children with mesenteric adenitis to be misdiagnosed as appendicitis. Fortunately, thus misdiagnosis is usually less serious than the reverse failure to diagnose appendicitis.
Celiac disease often fails to be diagnosed cause of chronic digestive symptoms: One of the most common chronic digestive conditions is celiac disease, a malabsorption disorder with a variety of symptoms (see symptoms of celiac disease). A variety of other chronic digestive disorders tend to be diagnosed rather than this condition. See introduction to celiac disease or misdiagnosis of celiac disease.
Chronic digestive diseases hard to diagnose: There is an inherent difficulty in diagnosing the various types of chronic digestive diseases. Some of the better known possibilities are peptic ulcer, colon cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, or GERD. Other sometimes overlooked possibilities include Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, chronic appendicitis, Celiac disease, Carcinoid syndrome, gastroparesis, and others. See all types of chronic digestive diseases.
Treat chronic diarrhoea seriously: Diarrhoea can be quite frightening and stressful for the patient. Serious disorders such as colorectal carcinoma must be considered in patients who present with a gradual onset of persistent diarrhoea. AIDS due to symptomatic HIV infection needs consideration especially in those at risk. Infectious disorders that can affect international travellers such as cholera, paratyphoid and amoebiasis should also be kept in mind and a detailed travel history must be taken from the patient. In children coeliac disease and fibrocystic disease present with chronic diarrhoea. Infection with Giardia lamblia may go on for months with watery stools before diagnosis.
Rare types of medical disorders and diseases in related medical areas:
Failure to diagnose Chronic diarrhea may be associated with the following:
The following may be hidden causes of Chronic diarrhea:
Wrong diagnosis of Chronic diarrhea may be associated with the following:
Read these general articles with an overview of misdiagnosis issues.
When checking for a misdiagnosis of Chronic diarrhea or confirming a diagnosis of Chronic diarrhea, it is useful to consider what other medical conditions might be possible misdiagnoses or other alternative conditions relevant to diagnosis. These alternate diagnoses of Chronic diarrhea may already have been considered by your doctor or may need to be considered as possible alternative diagnoses or candidates for misdiagnosis of Chronic diarrhea. For a general overview of misdiagnosis issues for all diseases, see Overview of Misdiagnosis.
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