Faeces, abnormal Health Dictionary

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Faeces, Abnormal: From 1 Different Sources

Faeces that differ from normal in colour, odour, consistency, or content. Abnormal faeces may indicate a disorder of the digestive system or related organ, such as the liver, but a change in the character of faeces is most often due to a change in diet.

Diarrhoea may be due simply to anxiety or may be caused by an intestinal infection (see gastroenteritis); by an intestinal disorder such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease; or by irritable bowel syndrome. Loose stools may indicate malabsorption. Constipation is generally harmless but, if it develops unexpectedly, may be caused by a large-intestine disorder such as colon cancer.

Pale faeces may be caused by diarrhoea, a lack of bile in the intestine as a result of bile duct obstruction, or a disease that causes malabsorption (such as coeliac disease). Such faeces may be oily, foul-smelling, and difficult to flush away. Dark faeces may result from taking iron tablets. However, if faeces are black, there may be bleeding in the upper digestive tract.

Faeces containing excessive mucus are sometimes associated with constipation or irritable bowel syndrome. Enteritis, dysentery, or a tumour of the intestine (see intestine, tumours of) may result in excess mucus, which is often accompanied by blood.

Blood in the faeces differs in appearance depending on the site of bleeding. Bleeding from the stomach or duodenum is usually passed in the form of black, tarry faeces. Blood from the colon is red and is usually passed at the same time as the faeces. Bleeding from the rectum or anus, which may be due to tumours or to haemorrhoids, is usually bright red. (See also rectal bleeding.)

Health Source: BMA Medical Dictionary
Author: The British Medical Association

Faeces

Faeces, or stools, consist of the remainder of the food after it has passed through the alimentary canal and been subjected to the action of the digestive juices, and after the nutritious parts have been absorbed by the intestinal mucous membrane. The stools also contain various other matters, such as pigment derived from the BILE, and large quantities of bacteria which are the main component of human stools. The stools are passed once daily by most people, but infants have several evacuations of the bowels in 24 hours and some adults may defaecate only two or three times weekly. Sudden changes in bowel habit, persistent diarrhoea or a change from the normal dark brown (caused by the bile pigment, stercobilin) to very pale or very dark stools are reasons for seeking medical advice. Blood in the stools may be due to HAEMORRHOIDS or something more serious, and anyone with such symptoms should see a doctor.

Incontinence of the bowels, or inability to retain the stools, is found in certain diseases in which the sphincter muscles – those muscles that naturally keep the bowel closed – relax. It is also a symptom of disease in, or injury to, the SPINAL CORD.

Pain on defaecation is a characteristic symptom of a FISSURE at the ANUS or of in?amed haemorrhoids, and is usually sharp. Pain of a duller character associated with the movements of the bowels may be caused by in?ammation in the other pelvic organs.

CONSTIPATION and DIARRHOEA are considered under separate headings.... faeces

Abnormal

A structure or process that is not normal (typical, usual or conforming to the standard); di?ering from the usual condition of the body.... abnormal

Abnormality

A physical deformity or malformation, a behavioural or mental problem, or a variation from normal in the structure or function of a cell, tissue, or organ in the body.... abnormality

Bowel Movements, Abnormal

See faeces, abnormal.... bowel movements, abnormal

Chromosomal Abnormalities

Variations from normal in the number or structure of chromosomes contained in a person’s cells. The cause is generally a fault in the process of chromosome division, either during the formation of an egg or sperm, or during the first few divisions of a fertilized egg. Chromosomal abnormalities are classified according to whether they involve the 44 autosomes or the 2 X and Y sex chromosomes. A complete extra set of chromosomes per cell is called polyploidy and is lethal.

Autosomal abnormalities cause physical and mental defects of varying severity. Some types of autosomal abnormality, known as trisomy, consist of an extra chromosome on 1 of the 22 pairs of autosomes. The most common trisomy is Down’s syndrome. Sometimes, part of a chromosome is missing, as in cri du chat syndrome. In translocation, a part of a chromosome is joined to another, causing no ill effects in the person but a risk of abnormality in his or her children.

Sex chromosome abnormalities include Turner’s syndrome, in which a girl is born with a single X chromosome in her

cells instead of 2, causing physical abnormalities, defective sexual development, and infertility. A boy with 1 or more extra X chromosomes has Klinefelter’s syndrome, which causes defective sexual development and infertility. The presence of an extra X chromosome in women or an extra Y chromosome in men normally has no physical effect but increases the risk of mild mental handicap.

Chromosomal abnormalities are diagnosed by chromosome analysis in early pregnancy, using amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling.... chromosomal abnormalities

Faeces, Blood In The

See faeces, abnormal; rectal bleeding.... faeces, blood in the

Sensation, Abnormal

Dulled, unpleasant, or otherwise altered sensations in the absence of an obvious stimulus.

Numbness and pins-and-needles are common abnormal sensations. The special senses can be impaired by damage to the relevant sensory apparatus (see vision, disorders of; smell; deafness; tinnitus). Other causes of abnormal sensation include peripheral nerve damage caused by diabetes mellitus, herpes zoster infection, or pressure from a tumour, and disruption of nerve pathways in the brain or spinal cord due to spinal injury, head injury, stroke, and multiple sclerosis.

Pressure on or damage to nerves can sometimes be relieved by surgery or by treatments for the cause.

In other cases, distressing abnormal sensation can be relieved only by cutting the relevant nerve fibres or by giving injections to block the transmission of signals.... sensation, abnormal

Urine, Abnormal

Urine may be produced in abnormal amounts or have an abnormal appearance or composition.

Conditions of abnormal production of urine include excessive production (see urination, excessive), oliguria, and anuria. Abnormal appearances of urine include cloudiness (which may be caused by a urinary tract infection, a calculus, or the presence of salts); haematuria; discoloration from certain foods or drugs; and frothiness (which may be caused by an excess of protein).Abnormal composition of the urine may occur in diabetes mellitus, kidney failure, and sometimes glomerulonephritis and nephrotic syndrome, as well as in other kidney disorders such as Fanconi’s syndrome and renal tubular acidosis.... urine, abnormal


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