The color of the stool has changed. Normal stool color in an adult and its deviations. Treatment for yellow-green stool

Yellow stool may be a symptom of liver dysfunction. But to make sure that the organ that filters the blood is damaged, you need to consult a therapist.

For a patient who complains of yellow stool, the doctor will tell you to have your stool tested and undergo a series of tests.

After they are carried out, the exact diagnosis will become known or it will turn out that the person is absolutely healthy, because sometimes a change in the shade of stool causes the predominance of a certain product in the diet.

Healthy human feces

Feces cannot be the same with every bowel movement. Its color constantly changes, becoming either light, then dark, or almost black.

But many people don't pay attention to the type of stool, and therefore have no idea what kind of stool indicates good and bad health.

Metamorphoses with feces can provide important information about the state of all body systems. Most often, changes in the color of stool are associated with taking certain medications, eating certain foods, and the body's reaction to a stressful situation.

The predominant shade of stool in an adult who does not experience health problems is brown. The excrement may be light, yellow or dark.

Regardless of color, the feces must contain particles of digested food and bile pigment, which significantly affect the color of the stool.

The type of bowel movements depends on what food a person has eaten over the past few days.

In addition, the consistency and color of stool are determined by:

lifestyle;
diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, which have to be constantly dealt with;
medications used;
state of the central nervous system.

By the color of the stool, you can find out whether everything is in order with your health, and understand what disease has affected the internal organs.

An adult who suspects that he has an illness because his stool has turned a bright yellow color will need a thorough medical examination.

Among the prescribed studies, the following procedures are usually included:

When yellow stool appears in an adult, it can be assumed that there has been a malfunction in the functioning of body systems or individual organs.

But there are other reasons for this phenomenon, for example, the presence of a large amount of sour cream, milk, cottage cheese or kefir in the diet.

However, in most cases, yellow stool is a symptom of pathology of the pancreas, liver or stomach.

Enzyme deficiency is sometimes responsible for yellow stools. If the gland located under the stomach does not produce enough substances responsible for processing food, then the feces always turn out yellow.

This color is given to stool by fats that have not been digested in the organs because few enzymes have been released to perform this task. Because of this problem, some compounds cannot be absorbed by the intestinal villi and are excreted in the feces.

Coloring stool a bright yellow-golden color can lead to Crohn's disease.

The disease is characterized by failure of all organs digestive system which, as a result, cannot process food in the required mode, which is why fats pass through the gastrointestinal tract almost unchanged. The worst part is in the large and small intestines.

Can turn stool bright yellow inflammatory process in the gallbladder. When bile is not produced correctly and enters the intestines without the necessary changes, the stool turns yellow and the urine becomes dark.

A person experiencing these symptoms needs urgent medical attention.

Any adult whose stool has turned yellow as a result of infection in the body after eating unwashed vegetables and fruits should also see a doctor quickly.

Sometimes you can get sick with an illness that causes your stool to turn yellow even by eating homemade unboiled milk, sour cream or cottage cheese.

Moreover, this disease can be contagious and transmitted from a sick person to a healthy person by airborne droplets. But you don’t always need to look for something sinister in the acquisition of light yellow stool.

There are other, quite harmless reasons for the formation of yellowish feces:

frequent consumption of fresh grated carrots, oranges and other yellow-skinned fruits, such as pears;
inclusion of excess dairy products in the diet;
fermentation processes in the large intestine;
the presence of peas on the menu;
hormonal balance, which negatively affects the functioning of all organs;
a stressful situation or depression that affects the state of the body;
taking medications that protect a woman from unwanted pregnancy;
use of certain antibiotics and vitamin complexes;
a rare and not very serious illness consisting in the body’s inability to process gluten.

However, if a person finds out why the stool has acquired a rich, strange color, but does not calm down, then he should talk to a doctor about whether he is at risk of a serious illness.

Measures to normalize stool

If the fecal stone that comes out of the intestines is yellow in color, then the person should remember what he ate in the last few days.

Sometimes stool that has a strange color and an extremely unpleasant odor can be associated with eating a large portion of fatty foods.

If you discover that yellow mucus appears in your stool after eating something fatty, you should rush to see a doctor, since the problem may be a malfunction of the pancreas.

The formation of light yellow stool can be caused by a malfunction of the liver caused by an antibacterial agent, pills that protect against unwanted pregnancy, an anti-epileptic drug, or a drug to combat tuberculosis.

Even anti-inflammatory drugs, Paracetamol for fever and Methotrexate can disrupt the functioning of the organ that cleanses the entire body of toxins.

Taking drugs derived from acetylsalicylic acid has a negative effect on the liver.

If you suspect that problems with stool are caused by medications, you should immediately visit a doctor.

When yellow stool is associated with a disease, the color changes to brown within a few days.

At the same time, the person feels unwell, that is, his temperature rises, it hurts abdomen, the skin turns yellow and the urine darkens.

This poor condition is accompanied by bloating, loss of appetite, severe nausea, vomiting and sudden weight loss.

A person who is worried about the color of feces will not encounter such symptoms only if the reason for the golden-yellow coloring of feces is a diet rich in plant foods.

If you are worried not only about the yellow tint of your stool, but also about the appearance of unpleasant symptoms, you should urgently consult a doctor.

Sometimes the rich yellow color of feces, which smell terrible, indicates that the fats from the food entering the body are not digested.

This phenomenon is a sign of a serious disease of the digestive system, which can be extremely dangerous, and therefore obliges a person to see a specialist as soon as possible.

After conducting tests and examinations and finding out in what situations stool turns yellow, the doctor will find out which organ is working poorly and prescribe the necessary treatment.

It is possible that in order for stool to acquire a normal color, a person will have to fight peritonitis, cancer or cholecystitis.

So, instead of the natural brown tint, the stool may take on a bright yellow color due to the inclusion of foods such as carrots, oranges, apples and pears in the diet.

In addition, problems with stool can be caused by hormonal imbalance and dangerous diseases. To find out what caused the stool to turn yellow-golden, it is necessary to undergo many diagnostic procedures.

How you need to act depends on the results of studies, which may prompt the doctor to prescribe serious treatment.

A change in the color of the stool may be due to changes in diet, but if nothing of the kind has been done over the past few days, you should be concerned. Very often this is a symptom that cannot be ignored. Feces in an adult often indicate problems with the functioning of the liver, pancreas, and intestines. You should definitely consult a doctor for diagnostics of the gastrointestinal tract.

List of common reasons: why stool is light brown

To confirm with certainty the presence of a particular diagnosis, you should undergo a full examination (biochemical blood test, FGDS, ultrasound, and in some cases MRI). The causes described below are hypothetical, and even if the full range of symptoms listed is present, the actual diagnosis and causes of light brown stool may vary. You should not self-medicate - you cannot do without the help of an experienced gastroenterologist and the prescription of special medications.

physiological reasons (changes in diet);
taking certain medications (list provided below);
liver diseases - toxic hepatitis, cirrhosis, viral hepatitis;
chronic pancreatitis or pancreatic necrosis;
chronic cholelithiasis or cholecystitis and other disorders of the outflow of bile;
problems with the production of enzymes in sufficient quantities to digest food.

List of possible physiological causes

Light brown feces may appear if the patient has overeaten a particular product, or as a reaction of the digestive system to an unusual ingredient in a dish. Therefore, first of all, you need to remember what you ate last week and not panic.

Here is a list of foods that in some cases can cause light brown stool in an adult:

white unpolished rice (and dishes made from it: rolls, sushi, pilaf, porridge);
fermented milk products and milk more than a liter per day;
baked goods made from white flour;
boiled peas (more than a kilogram per day);
barley and dishes made from it.

Nutritional habits and stool color

As you can see, the list of products is not so long, and in order to eat such a large amount you will have to make some effort. Depending on the individual characteristics body, sometimes it is enough to drink just 500 ml of milk in one gulp to make the stool lighter.

In some cases, it becomes not just light brown, but literally milky. This comes as a shock to some patients - but it was just a matter of excessive milk consumption. Light Brown color feces in a child may be caused by a malabsorption of lactose - the necessary tests should be taken to ensure the normal absorption of this substance by the baby’s body.

What medications can cause discoloration?

In some cases, the cause of lightening lies in the regular use of certain pharmaceutical drugs. The dosage may need to be reduced. Or taking medications has a toxic effect on liver cells, resulting in toxic hepatitis.

List of medications, the use of which can cause light brown stool in an adult or child:

calcium preparations - it doesn’t matter, single (“Calcium gluconate”) or any other multivitamin complexes in which the mineral is combined with other substances beneficial to the body;
antacids, which are taken for certain diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, can also cause a change in the color of stool when taken regularly in high doses;
fixative medications taken for diarrhea can cause a greenish or light brown tint;
some anticonvulsants are quite toxic to the liver, so they inevitably lead to lightening of the stool;
paracetamol, in case of significant overdose, causes the development of acute damage to liver tissue - accordingly, the stool becomes lighter;
barium sulfate, which is used as a contrast agent when performing x-rays (for example, when diagnosing stomach diseases).

Liver diseases: causes, symptoms and treatments

It is not for nothing that liver diseases were repeated several times above: they are in most cases the cause of a change in the shade of stool to the light side. Why does toxic hepatitis develop? Here are the most common ways to acquire this chronic disease:

regular abuse of drinks containing ethanol;
regular consumption of fast food, fatty foods, simple carbohydrates in large quantities;
overdose of certain medications (anticonvulsants, mood stabilizers, paracetamol, antidepressants, sedatives);
chemotherapy for oncology;
exposure to radiation;
other sources of radiation that have been consistently present in human life for many years.

Toxic hepatitis is accompanied not only by light brown stool. The photo of the affected organ is located just below: hepatitis inevitably leads to the development of cirrhosis, and then to death. The disease is accompanied by constant weakness, nagging pain in the right hypochondrium, yellow discoloration of the skin and sclera, indigestion, and nausea after eating.

Chronic pancreatitis, its manifestations and directions in therapy

Pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas tissue. Rarely does anyone think about the health of this organ. Meanwhile, it is he who produces the enzymes necessary for the digestion process. It synthesizes the most important hormone in human body- insulin. The pancreas determines how well the food will be digested, because if not enough enzymes are released, pieces of undigested food may remain in the stool and it will be light in color.

In order to diagnose pancreatitis, it is necessary to undergo an ultrasound. The organ will be enlarged, or the doctor will notice areas of inflammation in the tissues. Treatment methods involve taking enzymes from outside in order to neutralize their production by the gland. Reviews about this treatment are positive. It is especially effective if you adhere to a therapeutic diet: exclude fatty foods, heavy meat, fast food and alcoholic drinks. You should follow the drinking regime and drink as much clean liquid as possible.

Intestinal diseases and their effect on the color of stool

In order to accurately diagnose the reason why stool is light brown in color in an adult, you should undergo an examination of the intestines - a colonoscopy. In some cases, even a simple ultrasound is enough, but most often it does not allow you to examine every bend of the intestine. Therefore, when studying this organ ultrasonography not always effective. Depending on the area of the intestine and the degree of damage, treatment methods will vary.

Chronic cholecystitis and cholelithiasis

It usually occurs after the formation of sediment or stones in the gall bladder. In some cases, the disease can be triggered by an abnormal physiological shape of the organ - if there are bends on it, then cholecystitis is regarded as a normal condition. To avoid pain and problems with digestion, you need to take a course of choleretic drugs from time to time.

"Urossan" has proven itself to be excellent in such a situation - it has a mild choleretic effect, and the hepatoprotective effect supports the functioning of the body. Already in the second week of taking the capsules, the color of the stool will normalize and the patient will feel more alert and efficient.

Enzymopathy as a cause of light-colored stool

If the amount of enzymes produced by the pancreas is insufficient, pancreatitis does not always develop. Sometimes gastroenterologists diagnose so-called fermentopathy, the symptoms of which resemble a state of severe intoxication. Only in parallel with weakness, indigestion and light brown feces are also observed.

For fermentopathy, tableted enzymes and a special therapeutic diet are prescribed. "Festal", "Pancreatin", "Creon" - affordable and effective drugs, the intake of which will restore normal digestion already in the second week of intake. A prerequisite is normalization of nutrition and complete abstinence from alcohol consumption. If you continue to lead an incorrect lifestyle, the condition will worsen and pancreatitis will be diagnosed. This, in turn, can progress to pancreatic necrosis, which is a fatal, incurable disease.

In order to avoid problems with digestion and stool color, you should follow simple rules:

always wash your hands before eating;
observe moderation in food;
take medications only when absolutely necessary;
Avoid taking vitamins with calcium unless you are sure you need them;
undergo a routine examination of the gastrointestinal tract once a year;
do not abuse alcoholic drinks;
reduce your intake of fast food and fatty foods to a minimum;
quit smoking.

If the patient notices that the stool has become lighter in color and does not restore its normal color, this is a serious reason to contact a gastroenterologist. It is not advisable to self-medicate at home, especially when there are accompanying symptoms. Timely examination in some cases can save the patient's life.

Changes in the consistency, color and odor of stool can often indicate that a person is suffering from an illness. It is not surprising that most often they have a direct effect on changes in the characteristics of feces.

In a healthy person, the color of stool can vary from a light shade of brown to dark. At the same time, it should not have a pungent odor. However, it is not only disturbances in the body that affect it; it can also be caused by other, completely harmless reasons.

Stool can be different shades for each person

The color of stool varies among healthy people. It is variable and can be either various shades of brown or almost black. Most people notice changes in their own stool, and have an idea of what color the stool indicates that their body is in order.

Changes in the consistency, color or smell of stool (stool) can tell a lot. Often, they occur when changing the diet, or using certain medications, or even during stress, but often such changes can be one of the symptoms of various diseases.

In normal form, feces are brown in color, with different shades - from light brown to yellow-brown, which are formed as a result of the digestion process: particles of bile and food form this color during the digestion process. Its color may be affected by the food eaten over the past few days.

There is no clearly defined standard for stool color, since it simply does not exist. All characteristics of feces are determined by what a person eats, what kind of lifestyle he leads, whether he has any medicines he takes and what state his nervous system is in. The color of the stool can tell you how healthy a person is and whether he or she is at risk for any illness.

Why does stool turn light yellow?

Light yellow stool is often observed in children and is considered normal.

The first thing to understand is that light yellow stool is not necessarily a signal of the presence of disease in the body. It can become like this due to frequent consumption of some other foods. Therefore, if stool of this color appears, you should consult a doctor and have additional tests. Basically, stool turns light yellow for the following reasons:

Most common reason the appearance of light yellow stools. It is due to the fact that as a result of deterioration in the functioning of the organ, it secretes a smaller amount of digestive enzymes involved in the absorption of fats. It is the presence of undigested fats that leads to coloring of stool. Data also directly participates in general process digestion of essential nutrients, so light yellow stool may indicate a general deterioration in digestion.
Diseases of the liver and gall bladder. Some diseases of these two organs can also lead to In this case, due to disruption of the liver and gallbladder, namely, when the process of bile secretion is disrupted, and bilirubin enters the digestive system unchanged, stool turns bright yellow. In this case, the urine may become more saturated in color and more concentrated. Therefore, it is recommended not to delay your visit to the doctor, since disturbances in bile secretion are a serious problem.
Increased fermentation in the intestines. One of the reasons why a change in the color of a person's stool may occur. Stool also turns yellow when a person consumes large amounts of dairy products. This phenomenon is very often observed in infants who are breastfed or consume light yellow stools during this period, which does not indicate any illness.

What to do when stool turns light yellow

Light yellow stool is not a symptom in itself

When the stool turns light yellow, you should pay attention to what the person ate during the couple last days. Sometimes a large amount of fatty food eaten leads to light yellow stool that smells unpleasant.

If you notice that eating fatty foods is accompanied by a change in the color of the stool, you should consult a doctor, since this change may indicate dysfunction of the pancreas. There is a fairly large list of drugs that negatively affect liver function. These include the following drugs:

antibiotics
oral contraceptives
Methotrexate
acetylsalicylic acid derivatives
drugs against tuberculosis
anti-inflammatory drugs
Paracetamol

If light-colored stools appear as a result of taking any medicines, you should consult a doctor immediately.

If in doubt, visit a doctor!

Light yellow stool, in cases where its appearance is not caused by any diseases, usually changes its color to brown within a few days. You should also pay attention to the general well-being of the person. In particular, it is necessary to monitor whether he has been ill with anything recently.

If the color of the stool changes depending on the diet, then the person often feels great. If the color of the stool changes due to illness, other symptoms are often observed. The presence of the disease may be indicated by:

abdominal pain
yellow tint to the skin
darkening of urine
weight loss
loss of appetite
vomiting and nausea

When stool changes color and there are at least one of the above symptoms, you should immediately consult a doctor. Light yellow stools that smell bad and occur occasionally may indicate poor digestion of fats. This digestive disorder can be caused by severe gastrointestinal diseases.

Some diseases are quite serious, so when light yellow loose stools appear, you need to contact a specialist as soon as possible.

Depending on the circumstances under which a person’s stool changes color, you need to act differently. If this change occurs regularly, then he should conduct a diagnosis and, if necessary, prescribe therapy.

Light yellow stool does not always indicate the presence of a disease. It often happens when you change your diet, especially when consuming dairy products. If stool changes color for another reason, you should consult a specialist, as this may indicate various diseases of the body.

A general stool analysis will be deciphered by a specialist in a video consultation:

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Discoloration of stool in an adult does not in all cases indicate the development of pathology, especially if the person eats a monotonous diet. A prolonged change in the color of feces and the presence of accompanying unpleasant symptoms should cause alarm. Therefore, it is necessary to know why light-colored stool occurs in an adult, the cause and medical treatment of this condition.

Normally, 70% of adult feces consists of water, the remaining 30% comes from processed food consumed over the last 2-3 days, dead bacteria and desquamated intestinal epithelial cells. In a healthy adult, the color of stool ranges from light brown to dark. There should be no specific odor or foreign impurities. It is necessary that the stool has a dense consistency.

The occurrence of atypical light-colored stools is not a reason to panic, since there are many factors that provoke such changes.

There are several reasons for lightening stool:

physiological processes;
long-term use of certain medications;
pathological problems.

Often the coloring of stool in lighter shades in adults is associated with the consumption of foods high in fat. But changing the color of feces does not cause inconvenience to an adult. And after reviewing the diet, the shade returns to normal. If the diet is unsuccessful, other options should be considered. probable reasons changes.

Minor Factors

Taking medications can provoke lightening of stools:

birth control pills;
antimycotic drugs;
antibiotics.

In this situation, it is necessary to stop taking the medication and contact your doctor to change the treatment regimen. An increased threat is posed by lightening of the stool, accompanied by an increase in body temperature and the appearance of pain of varying intensity in the abdominal area.

Discoloration of excrement in women during pregnancy occurs as a result of consuming large amounts of dairy products or plant foods.

The organs of the expectant mother work under increased stress, so light-colored stools signal a failure of the digestive process. Often the cause of pathology is dysbacteriosis, which forces you to seek medical help.

Associated symptoms

In some cases, the reason for the lightening of feces is the development of serious diseases that interfere with the normal functioning of the liver, digestive tract and pancreas. In addition to changes in the color of stool, the following symptoms may appear:

increased body temperature;
yellowing of the skin and sclera of the eyes;
nausea accompanied by vomiting;
pain in the abdominal cavity;
flatulence;
lack of appetite and weight loss;
darkening of urine.

An increase in body temperature is one of the accompanying symptoms with light-colored stool.

If you discover that your feces are colored in a light shade, accompanied by the symptoms described, you must contact a specialist to determine the cause. pathological condition. It is not recommended to ignore this phenomenon, since it may indicate the presence of several diseases.

Diseases that cause light-colored stools

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver with the following symptoms:

nausea;
indigestion;
yellowing of the skin;
nagging pain in the right side.

Lack of proper treatment contributes to the development of cirrhosis. The acute phase of hepatitis is characterized by the appearance of white feces and dark urine.

Pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease of the pancreas. The patient has light-colored stool and severe stomach pain.

Cholecystitis is inflammation of the gallbladder. The disease is characterized by intense pain in the abdomen, increased temperature, nausea, and the appearance of loose stools with particles of undigested food.

Malignant neoplasms of the digestive tract. On early stage is asymptomatic. The first signs of cancer are observed after the tumor reaches a certain size.

Crohn's disease is a chronic disorder of the digestive system. The cause of the development of pathology in adults is allergic reactions and infectious diseases. Manifests itself in the form of light-colored excrement, vomiting, and blood in the stool.

Blockage of the biliary tract, in which the movement of bile partially or completely stops. As a result, the pathology in question arises.

Yellow stool is normal in a healthy adult. Worry should be caused by the appearance of beige stools, indicating unstable bilirubin production by the liver.

Treatment tactics in adults

Under no circumstances should stool discoloration be ignored. With such a problem, you should immediately seek help from a specialist and receive competent and timely therapy. Treatment of the pathology is prescribed based on the results of tests to determine the root cause of this condition. Therapy is prescribed to each patient individually.

If the pathology occurs as a result of malabsorption, adjustment is indicated daily diet and taking vitamin supplements.

If light-colored stool appears due to a tumor or stones, surgical intervention is necessary. IN modern clinics Endoscopic methods are used to remove stones, allowing you to get rid of formations in the gallbladder using ultrasound.

Hepatitis is treated with antiviral and anti-inflammatory drugs.

To treat light-colored stools resulting from a malfunction of the pancreas, a complex of medications is used. These include antibacterial medications, antispasmodics, vitamins, analgesics, and anti-inflammatory drugs.

“Smecta” allows you to cleanse the adult patient’s body of toxic agents. This drug prevents infection from entering the digestive tract, absorbs harmful substances and restores the mucous membrane of the intestinal walls.

ethnoscience

Not only traditional drug therapy can solve the problem of light-colored stool, but also prescriptions are often used traditional medicine. Home treatment is aimed at eliminating the cause that caused the pathology in question.

The described remedy allows you to normalize the color of feces during pancreatitis. It is necessary to wash a small amount of oats, then dry. After two days, the grains will begin to germinate. They should be washed thoroughly and left to dry. After this procedure, the raw materials are crushed to a powdery state. The resulting product is diluted in cold water, then the mixture is boiled for 3 minutes, then infused for about 30 minutes. This tool You need to drink small sips throughout the day.

Effective folk method– decoction of corn silk

You can get rid of hepatitis by using a decoction of corn silk. A tablespoon of raw material is poured into a glass of boiling water, then the mixture is infused for 20 minutes. Drink warm throughout the day instead of tea.

If light-colored stools were caused by the formation of gallstones, use black radish juice. It is recommended to take 100 ml of juice daily orally for 3-6 weeks, only on an empty stomach.

When forming kidney stones, celandine tea is used. To prepare it you will need 3 tablespoons of the product, the raw materials are poured with 1 liter of boiling water. The mixture is infused until it cools completely. You should drink the resulting tea warm throughout the day, with the addition of honey.

Dietary nutrition for pathology

If the cause of light-colored stool is poor nutrition, you should follow the recommended diet:

Cereals and porridges are suitable for breakfast: lentils, buckwheat, pearl barley. They have a positive effect on the stomach and intestines.
It is necessary to eat fruits that promote the breakdown of fats after lunch and dinner (bananas, apples, grapefruits, berry fruit drinks and juices).
Fried and fatty foods should be excluded from the diet.
You can stabilize the activity of the intestines and liver with chamomile or sage tea.

In some situations, light-colored stool signals the development of serious pathologies, so treatment should not be delayed. It is necessary to establish the cause of this problem as soon as possible and begin therapy immediately.