The causes of black stool, what does it mean?

Why are feces black?

Ensure the normal operation of the human gastrointestinal tract, every second in the body metabolic processes - the cleavage of nutrients and the removal of their residues from the body through urine and feces.

Some substances have the ability to dissolve in a liquid and color it in a different color range, leaving without change.

If they are water-soluble, they are removed with urine, coloring it in different colors. If the substance is fat-soluble, it is excreted with feces, staining them in the appropriate color, not excluding black feces.

The human stool( feces) is the end result of processing useful substances that enter the body with food. Its color, composition, consistency and smell are actual indicators of the state of health. Such signs were taken into account by the ancient Aesculapius.

Other pathology names - "melena" and "chernukha"

What are the symptoms of the appearance of black stool should alert?

Symptoms of black stool in an adult require special attention. Such fecal staining can be a consequence of the reaction of complex chromoprotein proteins and red blood cells with gastric juice( hydrochloric acid).

Therefore, the appearance of melena should be regarded as a signal of an organism's distress, indicating a malfunction in the digestive tract.

The odor of feces is also of great importance, it can tell a lot:

1. The putrefactive ambre indicates problems in gastric digestion - abnormal protein splitting( putrefactive indigestion) or chronic colon inflammation( ulcerative colitis).
2. Rancid oil odor speaks about digestive problems - bile insufficiency in the intestine or pancreatic secretion.
3. Severe sourish feces smell indicates the presence of a form of dyspepsia.

Therefore, when melena appears, it is necessary to clarify the reason for this transformation. It is possible that they will be completely harmless, due to the use of pigment-containing products or provoking medications.

In addition, the cause of the black color of the stool is often due to a number of chronic pathologies, the symptoms of which are manifested by a change in the color of the feces.

The main factor in determining this or that reason is the person's health.

If the presence of pathology does not cause anxiety and well-being is normal - in most cases it is a trace / reaction to food, or the reception of provoking medications.

If darkening of feces is accompanied:

• by stomach pain;
• with heartburn and hyperthermia;
• signs of intoxication( vomiting or nausea);
• by diarrhea or constipation( constipation);
• flatulence and anemia.

You can safely suspect an ulcerative pathology of the primary part of the jejunum and stomach, the development of hepatitis or cirrhosis.

When is the cause of black feces disease?

If melena appears suddenly, the cause should be sought in the GIT system. With many diseases, black stool is the main symptom of the disease.

The reason for this coloration can be:

• ulcerative intestinal pathology;
• tumor processes in the stomach;
• varicose veins and inflammatory processes of the esophagus;
• lymphoblastosis leukemia in acute form;
• dystrophic-inflammatory processes in the gastric mucosa;
• inflammatory lesion of the thick and small intestine;
• deep mycoses and helminthiases;
• black feces and pain in the epigastric region indicate a ulcerative lesion of the stomach.

Internal bleeding promotes the manifestation of the disease. Under the action of the reaction of the gastric secretion and hemoglobin, the red cells are transformed into dark pigments - hematins.

Intensive conversion of feces into a shiny dark color promotes the breakdown of malignant lesions in the lumen of the intestine that cause internal bleeding.

Effect of Nutrition and Drugs on Chair Darkening

A change in color of faeces does not always serve as an indicator of disease. When eating foods with a high iron content, black feces are a common occurrence, not causing any health problems.

These symptoms are manifested when excessive use of dishes from beets or blood( blood sausage), red grapes and red wines.

Black dots in stool can appear with partial digestion of various stone fruit( kiwi, raspberry, currant, etc.).

Staining of stool causes some medicines:

1. Iron-containing medications prescribed for hematological syndrome( development of anemia);
2. Vitamin complexes and bismuth containing medicines.
3. Enterosorbent preparations.
4. Long-term use of painkillers based on salicylate. A prolonged effect on the circulatory system causes the development of internal bleeding - a possible cause of black feces with blood.
5. Reception of antibiotics. In the treatment of gastrointestinal pathologies, antibiotics can provoke the formation of black-green feces. This is facilitated by a large accumulation in the foci of inflammation of dead white blood cells.

Black diarrhea( diarrhea)

Such diarrhea can provoke a wide variety of causes, both products and medications. Only the liquid consistency of stool is caused by the incompetence of the gastrointestinal tract to rapidly remove harmful provoking substances from the body.

The appearance of liquid blackened feces is the response of the body. Sometimes, this is facilitated by a sharp change in the habitual diet or prolonged poisoning of the body with fusel oils of low-quality alcoholic beverages. All this can be quickly fixed independently at home.

But very often, suddenly blackened liquid feces can manifest as a clinical symptom of intracavitary bleeding due to:

• ulcerous erosion and varicose veins at the site of pathology localization;
• of intestinal diseases and tumor processes in it;
• pathologies of the biliary tract;
• polyposis formation;
• damage to the polyp of the rectum or other parts of the intestine;
• viral and bacterial infections that change the color of feces to black-green feces.

The appearance of liquid black feces is a sure sign of exacerbation, in the presence of diseases: ulcers, hepatitis, cancer or open internal bleeding after surgery of the stomach, or intestines.

In this case, diarrhea is accompanied by:

• scarlet or dark vomiting:
• pallor and dizziness;
• by hypotension and the development of anemia;
• intense paroxysmal pain in the abdomen;
• is a bloated eructation - evidence of the progression of the process.

If this condition continues for more than two days, do not hesitate, you need to see an emergency doctor.

Black feces in pregnant women

The appearance of black feces in pregnant women is common. This is facilitated by the intake of various vitamin complexes enriched with iron, which are often attributed to pregnant women to maintain the body.

In addition, the predilection of women in this period, to vegetables, fruits and berries containing iron is a well-known fact. Harm from this, no, the state of health does not deteriorate and does not bother.

To be cautious should women who have a history of diseases associated with chronic pathology of the gastrointestinal tract. Then, staining of feces in dark tones can be a consequence of inflammation of the gastric mucosa or its ulcerative lesion.

It's impossible to overlook it, as well as feeling worse, vomiting and upset of the stool. It is urgent to seek medical help.

Melena in children

Newborn children undergo a true and false form of the disease.

In the first case, , black feces in the child is manifested due to hemostasis( poor blood clotting), accompanied by bleeding from the umbilical cord, subcutaneous hemorrhage, conjunctivitis, etc.

In the second case, , a change in feces precedes the ingestion of blood during labor,sucking on cracked nipples, or damage to the nasal mucosa or mouth.

In older children, a pathological change in feces to a dark color, is the main symptom of bleeding incomplete infection of the Mikkel diverticulum. The release of blood can be massive, provoking a sharp development of anemia.

The bleeding can provoke:

• the presence of a diaphragmatic hernia in a child;
• lesions of the esophagus veins by varicose veins;
• infectious-allergic vascular pathology;
• gastritis and intestinal and gastric ulcers.

The child should be urgently hospitalized. Before finding out the causes of bleeding, he should not eat anything. Only short sips of cold water are allowed.

What should I do if my calf is darkened and when should I go to the doctor?

What not to do is to diagnose the disease yourself and self-medicate.

If the black stool does not affect the general state of health, observe a couple of days how the situation will change with the elimination of provocative factors. Otherwise, seek qualified help.

Immediate consultation is necessary if there is an anamnesis:

• of irreversible processes in the liver( cirrhosis);
• diffuse pathologies of the liver( hepatitis);
• iron deficiency anemia;
• ulcerative pathology of the gastrointestinal tract;
• malignant neoplasm in the digestive system.

If the symptoms are accompanied by vomiting and hyperthermia, lethargy, weakness and indifference to food. Timely detection of the cause, can save from the development of cancer in the intestine.