Antimotility agents are drugs used to alleviate the symptoms of diarrhea. These include
loperamide
Loperamide, sold under the brand name Imodium, among others,Drugs.co Page accessed September 4, 2015 is a medication used to decrease the frequency of diarrhea. It is often used for this purpose in inflammatory bowel disease and short bowel syn ...
(Imodium),
diphenoxylate
Diphenoxylate is a centrally active opioid drug of the phenylpiperidine series that is used as a combination drug with atropine for the treatment of diarrhea. Diphenoxylate is an opioid and acts by slowing intestinal contractions; the atropine ...
with
atropine (Lomotil), and
opiates such as
paregoric
Paregoric, or camphorated tincture of opium, also known as ''tinctura opii camphorata'', is a traditional patent medicine known for its antidiarrheal, antitussive, and analgesic properties.
According to Goodman and Gilman's 1965 edition, "Par ...
,
tincture of opium
Laudanum is a tincture of opium containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight (the equivalent of 1% morphine). Laudanum is prepared by dissolving extracts from the opium poppy (''Papaver somniferum Linnaeus'') in alcohol (ethanol).
Red ...
,
codeine, and
morphine
Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...
. In diarrhea caused by invasive pathogens such as ''
Salmonella'', ''
Shigella
''Shigella'' is a genus of bacteria that is Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, non-spore-forming, nonmotile, rod-shaped, and genetically closely related to '' E. coli''. The genus is named after Kiyoshi Shiga, who first discovered it in 1 ...
'', and ''
Campylobacter'', the use of such agents has generally been strongly discouraged, though evidence is lacking that they are harmful when administered in combination with antibiotics in ''
Clostridium difficile'' cases.
Use of antimotility agents in children and the elderly has also been discouraged in treatment of
EHEC (
Shiga-like toxin
Shiga toxins are a family of related toxins with two major groups, Stx1 and Stx2, expressed by genes considered to be part of the genome of lambdoid prophages. The toxins are named after Kiyoshi Shiga, who first described the bacterial or ...
producing ''
Escherichia coli
''Escherichia coli'' (),Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. also known as ''E. coli'' (), is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus '' Esc ...
'') due to an increased rate of
hemolytic uremic syndrome
Hemolysis or haemolysis (), also known by several other names, is the rupturing ( lysis) of red blood cells (erythrocytes) and the release of their contents (cytoplasm) into surrounding fluid (e.g. blood plasma). Hemolysis may occur in vivo ...
.
See also
*
Traveler's diarrhea
Travelers' diarrhea (TD) is a stomach and intestinal infection. TD is defined as the passage of unformed stool (one or more by some definitions, three or more by others) while traveling. It may be accompanied by abdominal cramps, nausea, fever, ...
*
Infectious diarrhea
References
Antidiarrhoeals
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