In medicine, diarrhea (from the Greek, "diarrhoia" meaning "a flowing through"), also spelled diarrhoea (see spelling differences), is the condition of having frequent loose or liquid bowel movements. Acute diarrhea is a common cause of death in developing countries and the second most common cause of infant deaths worldwide. The loss of fluids through diarrhea can cause severe dehydration which is one cause of death in diarrhea sufferers. A stud...
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In medicine, diarrhea (from the Greek, "diarrhoia" meaning "a flowing through"), also spelled diarrhoea (see spelling differences), is the condition of having frequent loose or liquid bowel movements. Acute diarrhea is a common cause of death in developing countries and the second most common cause of infant deaths worldwide. The loss of fluids through diarrhea can cause severe dehydration which is one cause of death in diarrhea sufferers. A study with partial results released in October 2009 suggests diarrhea is now estimated to cause 3 times more deaths than previously thought, at 1.1 million annually for people aged 5 and over, up from 300,000 assumed in a 2002 study. According to a UNICEF, diarrhea kills some 1.5 million children under the age of 5 annually. Also, according to WHO statistics, some 50 million children have been saved thanks to the low cost treatment of oral rehydration salts in the past 25 years.
Diarrhea commonly results from gastroenteritis caused by viral...
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