It happens that the color of feces indicates serious diseases that can develop in the human body. Therefore, in the event of such changes, you should immediately consult a doctor. In fact, there can be many reasons for changing the color of feces, and they will be associated not only with diseases of the intestines or stomach, but also with other diseases.
Naturally, the color of feces will mainly depend on what a person used before, but this does not always happen, because in most cases a color change indicates a disease that will be easier to prevent than to cure, and you can do this by devoting your the body a little attention.
Why does feces change color?
Let's take a closer look at why the color of feces in an adult can change. The reasons are hidden in the following:
- Sometimes the treatment of other diseases can not take place without special medications that can affect the color of the emptying.
- Changes may be caused by the consumption of individual foods. If a person includes a large amount of asparagus or lettuce in his diet, then the stool may turn green. Eating plenty of berries of currants or blueberries can make feces black.
- When a person consumes a lot of milk, the feces will be yellowish.
But a change in the color of feces indicates that painful processes began to develop in the body, here are the main ones:
- The color of feces changes with cirrhosis.
- If the patient has a stomach ulcer.
- With any malignant and benign tumors in the intestine.
- With almost all types of bleeding in the intestines and stomach.
When a person noticed that the color of the feces has changed significantly and there were no prerequisites for this, you should immediately consult a doctor, maybe this is how a serious disease begins to manifest itself. A timely and correct diagnosis will help to avoid serious diseases in the future.
What does the light feces indicate?
The usual color of feces in a person is brown, it is given due to a substance such as bilirubin. When the color becomes too light, down to white, this indicates that bile does not enter the gallbladder into the intestines. The reasons are as follows:
- Hepatitis is directly related to liver diseases. The reasons may lie in the use of alcohol, ingestion of an infection or toxic substances.
- Colorless feces appear with cholecystitis. In addition, a person may experience other symptoms, such as severe pain in the gallbladder, loss of appetite, and nausea. As a rule, emptying with cholecystitis will be liquid, and even in them it will be possible to consider the remains of undigested food.
- If there is an inflammatory process in the pancreas, then the color of the stool in an adult changes and becomes light brown, and the disease that changes this indicator is called pancreatitis.
- The inflammatory process in the digestive system is called Crohn's disease and also affects the color of feces.
- Light or white feces can appear if an oncological disease occurs in the human body. In the initial stages, it is unlikely to detect the disease, because the color of the emptying begins to change in the last stages, when the tumor is quite large.
- In no case can we exclude the possibility of light feces when taking antibiotics.
Do not panic if the stool has changed its color. It is advisable to try to observe its changes within five days, and if the color does not change, then consult a doctor.
Gray emptying
Experts recommend paying attention when changing feces to what a person consumed before emptying. It happens that gray feces appears after a large consumption of potatoes and rice. Sometimes the patient is required to undergo an X-ray examination using barium sulfate, after which the patient can observe colorless feces, which either have a light gray tint or will be completely white. Certain medications are not an exception, for example, many of them contain calcium and antacids that discolor emptying. In the event that there are no prerequisites for discoloration of feces, you should definitely contact a qualified doctor.
What does red feces indicate?
If the color of feces in an adult turns red, then this should alert. Such feces can acquire color after a large number of eaten foods that are red, but this is not always the case. Red feces may indicate that a person has taken a large number of antibiotics, which caused the opening of ulcers in the stomach, and perhaps this is leading to severe bleeding. It is important to remember that stool with blood may indicate cracks in the anus or even the appearance of hemorrhoids. Red feces appears in such cases:
- After childbirth.
- After an intimate act.
- If some object has got into the rectum.
- With constant constipation.
- If there is inflammation of the intestine.
When the blood during emptying is clearly visible, then most likely the whole problem is in the lower intestine. Few people know that the main symptom of colon cancer is precisely blood discharge along with feces.
Yellow feces
If the color of feces changes to golden, then the doctor will be able to establish a diagnosis associated with the incorrect process of splitting carbohydrates. The main problem arises in the large intestine, because it is there that poor digestion occurs. Many parents are faced with this problem, having a baby in the family. The fact is that in a small child the intestines are not yet fully formed, therefore, when the baby takes food, he may have a feces color from light yellow to green. Experts say that yellow feces is a normal occurrence. It is worth worrying when the feces become beige. To accurately determine the cause of yellow feces, you must consult a doctor who will diagnose and in case of deviations in the body will prescribe therapy.
What does light brown stool mean?
When a person noticed a light brown feces after emptying, this may indicate that he consumes a large amount of vegetation. Such changes do not carry any pathologies, so you can stay calm. The fact is that feces with such nutrition begin to move much faster, because of this the stool acquires a light brown hue.
A large number of protein products in the diet will quickly fix this defect and normalize the intestines.
White feces
The color of feces changes when a malfunction occurs in the pancreas - it turns white. But do not self-medicate and try to independently establish the work of the body, because it can also be about diabetes. If the color of feces has changed to white, then it is advisable to go for a consultation with a doctor and take a blood test. Often the white color of feces indicates a possible tumor in the digestive system. Pay attention to the white color of the emptying is necessary with its frequent occurrences. If this symptom appears only once, then the cause may be hidden in the diet.
Green emptying
Often there is green feces, the causes of its appearance are hidden in problems with the stomach or intestines. The stool can turn green if a person has to use antibiotics for a long time, the color is due to the fact that dead leukocytes can be in the intestine. An infection, such as dysentery, can cause feces of such an unusual color, but in this case, in addition to green feces, a person will be able to notice the manifestation of other symptoms, for example, such as:
- Fever.
- Cramps in the stomach.
- Nausea and severe vomiting.
- Weakness in the body.
It must be remembered that the green color of feces for children in infancy is the norm. If the child has no other negative symptoms, then the parents have nothing to worry about.
Black feces
Black feces in an adult can be completely not dangerous. Feces can be painted black for the following reasons:
- A large number of taken tablets of activated carbon.
- Taking supplements containing iron.
- If there are bismuth in medications taken by humans.
- Eating blueberries in large quantities.
It is important to pay attention to the fact that not only the color plays a role, but also the consistency, if the stool has become black and malleable, then you need to see a doctor. Black stool will begin to appear in a person who is abusing alcohol or taking drugs. When black feces appear, the reasons may also be hidden in taking drugs such as:
- Ibuprofen
- "Aspirin".
It is advisable, when changing the color of feces, still contact a qualified specialist who can accurately determine the cause of such a pathology.
What to do?
When feces have an unusual color, then you can not ignore this problem. You should first try to adjust your diet and change nutrition, as well as carefully analyze what was used by a person the day before. If the color of feces has changed, the causes may be different, so it is important to exclude the development of the disease in the body. When, after the diet changes, the color of feces also changes, we can say that the reason was hidden in the diet. In any other cases, you must consult a doctor.
It is necessary to pay attention to other symptoms that may accompany the disease, for example, nausea, vomiting, and fever may appear. A change in the color of feces is just a symptom that can indicate a serious illness, and a doctor can make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe the only right treatment. Therefore, after the discovery of the above symptoms, consultation with a specialist is mandatory.