A serious cause for concern may be green stool in an adult. The article considers the reasons for its appearance not only among the conscious representatives of society, but also among newborn babies.
Depending on the content of bile pigment in the stool of a person, the color of the stool itself will change. This explains the fact that bowel movements are completely colorless or almost black. In addition, their color depends on the food we consume. In a healthy person, green feces are most often caused by the use of foods rich in green dye. And the more green paint they have, the more intense will be the color of the stool.
However, green stools in an adult can signal a variety of ailments of the stomach or intestines. Most often, this condition is caused by a disease of the small intestine - dysbiosis caused by prolonged use of antibiotics. With such violations, due to the death of digestive microorganisms, fermentation and decay increase. In the process of the body's struggle with the disease that has arisen, a large number of dead white blood cells accumulate in the intestine. They give the feces a green color, accompanied by an unpleasant, putrid odor.
The appearance of symptoms such as green stools in an adult is the result of not only nutritional errors, but also some serious illnesses. These include dysentery - an acute infectious disease accompanied by pain in the intestine, general malaise, nausea and vomiting. The disease is treated strictly in a hospital, under the supervision of a doctor. And finally, bleeding in various parts of the intestine can cause such an unpleasant factor as green stool in an adult. In this case, a color change occurs due to the destruction of iron molecules in red blood cells. In this case, there are clear signs of anemia: weakness, shortness of breath, rapid pulse.
So, green stools in an adult can mean the development of the following diseases or their complication:
- dysbiosis;
- bleeding in the stomach or intestines;
- blood and liver diseases;
- enteritis.
In any case, when the corresponding symptoms appear, you need to visit a doctor.
Green stool in the baby. Causes
Very often, young mothers are frightened by the appearance of green feces in the baby. There is nothing to worry about. The color of the stool in newborns changes from black to green, after some time - from brown to yellow. This is due to the fact that in the intestines of the baby contains meconium, consisting of particles of amniotic fluid, swallowed by the crumbs in the mother’s womb. Mekonium is removed from the child's body almost within a day. By the end of the first week of life, the green stool in the baby acquires a brownish-green color and becomes less viscous. After a couple of weeks, it should have a tan color and a mushy consistency.
In the case of full breastfeeding, the greenish tint of baby feces is the absolute norm. The color gives them bilirubin, excreted in the feces. An influence on the consistency and color of feces in infants can be caused by fluctuations in the amount of hormones in milk in mothers. Although the feces in a newborn are usually mustard yellow, do not worry when green feces appear if the baby does not feel discomfort.