Diarrhea & Dysentery

Neue Artznei und Practicierbuchlin, Bock, 1551

Diarrhea is a large problem is the developing world. It is the second leading cause of death in children with over 500,000 children under the age of 5 dying annually according to WHO figures. It is also the leading cause of malnutrition in children. It is both preventable and treatable.

Acute Diarrhea is most commonly caused by an intestinal infection, either bacterial, viral or parasitical.

Types of Diarrhea in Traditional Medicine:

Diarrhea: passage of fluid from the bowels without Blood or Food
Dysentery (Bloody Flux): Diarrhea with Blood and Mucus
Lientery, Lienteria, or Coeliac Passion: passage of undigested food in the Stool. Due to severe deficiency (Yang deficiency) and weakness of the retentive faculty
Coeliac Passion: Diarrhea with partly digested food, due to the Stomach not retaining the food

According to Humor:

Choleric (Bile/Heat): burning Diarrhea, inflammation, foul smell, with Fever in acutes cases
Phlegm: passage of Phlegm, excess clear Urine, pale face, thick tongue coat
Melancholy: dark or black Diarrhea, distention or heaviness over the Spleen, a melancholic constitution
Serous or Watery: copious water passed through the bowel, perhaps with edema, wet tongue

According to Energetics:

Heat–type Diarrhea

Typically associated with Infection and/or inflammation such as Gastroenteritis. It may be the result of Food or Water poisoning and often comes with Fever, abdominal pain, and burning, foul-smelling, loose, watery stool. Because it is associated with Fever, Inflammation and Infection, it is classed as a Heat disease. Because the Fluids are also involved, it is classed as Damp-Heat in TCM. Treatment uses bitter and dry medicines to clear Damp-Heat and stop Diarrhea.

Cold–type Diarrhea

Associated with internal Coldness and Damp. In Western Tradition it might be referred to Coldness in the Stomach and Intestines. In TCM, it may be associated with Cold and Damp attacking the Stomach and Intestines, or in severe cases, Spleen and Kidney Yang deficiency. The stool is loose and watery, but without burning or foul smell. There may be undigested food in the stool (due to lack of Heat). Treatment uses Warm and dry Stomachic medicines to increase digestion, stimulate digestive fire (Agni or Spleen Yang), as well as drying astringent medicines to restrain excess fluid.

Chronic Diarrhea

Chronic cases are usually associated with deficiency. Even if the initial disease was excess Heat, it will eventually drain the body and cause deficiency. Chronic cases can be from Cold and deficiency of the Spleen and/or Kidneys. Cases with excess Phlegm/Damp require drying medicines along with medicines to strengthen the Spleen. In chronic cases with Heat, cold medicines may be prescribed with suitable tonics.

Diarrhea with Blood

Diarrhea with Blood may occur in prolonged Damp-Heat type infective Diarrhea, or in serious infections such as Amoebic Dysentery. In these cases, medicines to clear Heat and combined with demulcents to sooth the membranes and with drying medicines that stop Bleeding, for example Red Earth.

Dysentery

Dysentery is treated similarly to Diarrhea, along certain medicine have shown particular efficacy against Dysentery. Acute Dysentery is usually Damp-Heat. In chronic cases, the patient becomes weak and requires astringent and strengthening medicines. Dysentery is often divided into “Red” and “White”, that is, Dysentery with Blood or Pus respectively. If there is Blood present in the stool, medicines to stop bleeding are combined with astringents. If there is pus, medicines that clear heat and toxin are combined.

Ayurvedic Differentiation of Dysentery:

1. Vata (Wind) Dysentery: acute pain, rumbling, bloating, with lassitude
2. Pitta (Bile) Dysentery: foul smelling stool with blood, urning sensation, fever
3. Kapha (Phlegm) Dysentery: Mucus in the stool which is loose, cold feeling

Dysentery is a particularly dangerous disease, especially in developing countries where it is still responsible for many fatalities.

Important Notes

1. As always, treat the underlying condition. Hot medicines will be beneficial to Diarrhea from Cold and Damp, whereas the same medicines may aggravate Hot-type Diarrhea.
2. In the treatment of Diarrhea and Dysentery, it is important to separate acute and chronic cases. Acute heat or damp-heat cases are generally associated with an acute bacterial or viral infection and require bitter, draining medicines to attack the pathogen. Chronic cases require astringent and strengthening medicines. If cold, draining medicines are used in chronic cases with weakness, it will drain them further. If astringent tonic medicines are used in acute cases with Heat, the pathogen may be strengthened or penetrate deeper.

Some Herbs with Proven Anti-amoebic Activity:

Diarrhea

Special Formula

Dysentery

Crato said Astringents should not be given before the 7th day, after that, gentle astringents should be used. Astringents are generally only used once Heat and inflammation has been settled.

“Veal broth boiled very long doth assuages pain in the Ulcers”.
Cream of Rice heals Ulcers; or Cream of Barley with Sugar; Rice boiled in Almond Milk
“The Juice of Quinces boiled to the consistency of a Syrup or Rob, without an addition, given a spoonful or two often, is very profitable”.

Special Formulas for Dysentery