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Stool Tests
A stool test is a medical diagnostic technique that involves the collection and analysis of fecal matter. Microbial analysis (culturing), microscopy and chemical tests are among the tests performed on stool samples. Collection Stool samples should be sent to the laboratory as soon as possible after collection and should not be refrigerated prior to by the laboratory. Visual examination The patient and/or health care worker in the office or at the bedside is able to make some important observations. * Color * Texture/consistency—formed * Classify type of feces (diagnostic triad for irritable bowel syndrome) based on Bristol stool scale Cancer screening Fecal occult blood test and fecal immunochemical test are the most common stool tests to diagnose many conditions that caused by bleeding in the gastrointestinal system, including colorectal cancer or stomach cancer. The American College of Gastroenterology has recommended the abandoning of gFOBT testing as a colorectal can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bristol Stool Scale
The Bristol stool scale is a diagnostic medical tool designed to classify the form of human faeces into seven categories. It is used in both clinical and experimental fields. It was developed at the Bristol Royal Infirmary as a clinical assessment tool in 1997, by Stephen Lewis and Ken Heaton and is widely used as a research tool to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments for various diseases of the bowel, as well as a clinical communication aid;Bristol scale stool form. A still valid help in medical practice and clinical research G Riegler, I Esposito – ''Techniques in coloproctology'', 2001 – Springer including being part of the diagnostic triad for irritable bowel syndrome. Interpretation The seven types of stool are: * Type 1: Separate hard lumps, like nuts (difficult to pass) * Type 2: Sausage-shaped, but lumpy * Type 3: Like a sausage but with cracks on its surface * Type 4: Like a sausage or snake, smooth and soft (average stool) * Type 5: Soft blobs with cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cost Effective
Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is a form of economic analysis that compares the relative costs and outcomes (effects) of different courses of action. Cost-effectiveness analysis is distinct from cost–benefit analysis, which assigns a monetary value to the measure of effect. Cost-effectiveness analysis is often used in the field of health services, where it may be inappropriate to monetize health effect. Typically the CEA is expressed in terms of a ratio where the denominator is a gain in health from a measure (years of life, premature births averted, sight-years gained) and the numerator is the cost associated with the health gain. The most commonly used outcome measure is quality-adjusted life years (QALY). Cost–utility analysis is similar to cost-effectiveness analysis. Cost-effectiveness analyses are often visualized on a plane consisting of four quadrants, the cost represented on one axis and the effectiveness on the other axis. Cost-effectiveness analysis focuses ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rectal Examination
Digital rectal examination (DRE), also known as a prostate exam (), is an internal examination of the rectum performed by a healthcare provider. Prior to a 2018 report from the United States Preventive Services Task Force, a digital exam was a common component of annual medical examination for older men, as it was thought to be a reliable screening test for prostate cancer. Usage This examination may be used: * for the diagnosis of prostatic disorders, benign prostatic hyperplasia and the four types of prostatitis. Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome, chronic bacterial prostatitis, acute (sudden) bacterial prostatitis, and asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis. The DRE has a 50% specificity for benign prostatic hyperplasia. Vigorous examination of the prostate in suspected acute prostatitis can lead to seeding of septic emboli and should never be done. Its utility as a screening method for prostate cancer however is not supported by the evidence; * for the eva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fecal Fat
In medicine, the fecal fat test is a diagnostic test for fat malabsorption conditions, which lead to excess fat in the feces (steatorrhea). Background In the duodenum, dietary fat (primarily triglycerides) is digested by enzymes such as pancreatic lipase into smaller molecules of 1,2-Diacylglycerols and free fatty acids, which can be absorbed through the wall of the jejenum of the small intestine and enter circulation for metabolism and storage. Since fat is a valuable nutrient, human feces normally contains very little undigested fat. However, a number of diseases of the pancreas and gastrointestinal tract are characterized by fat malabsorption. Examples of such diseases are: * disorders of exocrine pancreatic function, such as chronic pancreatitis, cystic fibrosis and Shwachman–Diamond syndrome (these are characterized by deficiency of pancreatic digestive enzymes) * celiac disease (in which the fat malabsorption in severe cases is due to inflammatory damage to the integrit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steatorrhea
Steatorrhea (or steatorrhoea) is the presence of excess fat in Human feces, feces. Stools may be bulky and difficult to flush, have a pale and oily appearance, and can be especially foul-smelling. An oily anal leakage or some level of fecal incontinence may occur. There is increased fat excretion, which can be measured by determining the fecal fat level. Causes Impaired digestion or absorption can result in fatty stools. Possible causes include exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, with poor digestion from lack of lipases, loss of bile salts, which reduces micelle formation, and small intestinal disease-producing malabsorption. Various other causes include certain medicines that block fat absorption or indigestible or excess oil/fat in diet. The absence of bile secretion can cause the feces to turn gray or pale. Bile is responsible for the brownish color of feces. In addition to this, bile also plays a role in fat absorption, where dietary lipids are combined so that pancreatic lipa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lactose Intolerance
Lactose intolerance is caused by a lessened ability or a complete inability to digest lactose, a sugar found in dairy products. Humans vary in the amount of lactose they can tolerate before symptoms develop. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, flatulence, and nausea. These symptoms typically start thirty minutes to two hours after eating or drinking something containing lactose, with the severity typically depending on the amount consumed. Lactose intolerance does not cause damage to the gastrointestinal tract. Lactose intolerance is due to the lack of the enzyme lactase in the small intestines to break lactose down into glucose and galactose. There are four types: primary, secondary, developmental, and congenital. Primary lactose intolerance occurs as the amount of lactase declines as people grow up. Secondary lactose intolerance is due to injury to the small intestine. Such injury could be the result of infection, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fecal PH Test
A faecal pH test is one where a specimen of faeces is tested for acidity in order to diagnose a medical condition. The pH of human faeces is variable but the average is pH 6.6 (acidic) for normal faeces. A lower faecal pH (very acidic stool) can indicate a digestive problem such poor absorption of carbohydrates or fats, lactose intolerance, an infection such as ''E. coli'' or rotavirus, or overgrowth of acid-producing bacteria (such as lactic acid bacteria). Test procedure The test is fast and can be performed in a doctor's office. A patient must not be receiving antibiotics. At least half a milliliter of feces is collected, and a strip of nitrazine paper is dipped in the sample and compared against a color scale. A pH of less than 5.5 indicates an acidic sample. Results Unhealthy individuals with a higher or lower pH rate have been observed having a higher mortality rate. A high alkaline pH rating is associated with the body's inability to create enough acid along with u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helicobacter Pylori
''Helicobacter pylori'', previously known as ''Campylobacter pylori'', is a gram-negative, Flagellum#bacterial, flagellated, Bacterial cellular morphologies#Helical, helical bacterium. Mutants can have a rod or curved rod shape that exhibits less virulence. Its Helix, helical body (from which the genus name ''Helicobacter'' derives) is thought to have evolved to penetrate the gastric mucosa, mucous lining of the stomach, helped by its flagella, and thereby establish infection. While many earlier reports of an association between bacteria and the ulcers had existed, such as the works of John Lykoudis, it was only in 1983 when the bacterium was formally described for the first time in the English-language Western literature as the causal agent of peptic ulcer, gastric ulcers by Australian physician-scientists Barry Marshall and Robin Warren. In 2005, the pair was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery. Infection of the stomach with ''H. pylori'' doe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rotavirus
Rotaviruses are the most common cause of diarrhea, diarrhoeal disease among infants and young children. Nearly every child in the world is infected with a rotavirus at least once by the age of five. Immunity (medical), Immunity develops with each infection, so subsequent infections are less severe. Adults are rarely affected. The virus is transmitted by the fecal–oral route, faecal–oral route. It infects and damages the enterocyte, cells that line the small intestine and causes gastroenteritis (which is often called "stomach flu" despite having no relation to influenza). Although rotavirus was discovered in 1973 by Ruth Bishop and her colleagues by electron micrograph images and accounts for approximately one third of hospitalisations for severe diarrhoea in infants and children, its importance has historically been underestimated within the public health community, particularly in developing country, developing countries. In addition to its impact on human health, rotavi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clostridioides Difficile (bacteria)
''Clostridioides'' is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria, which includes ''Clostridioides difficile (bacteria), Clostridioides difficile'', a human pathogen causing an infectious diarrhea. Taxonomy The genus ''Clostridioides'' was created to describe a few species formerly in the genus ''Clostridium'' which have been shown to be their own genetically distinct genus using 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis. However, both names are still in use and valid under the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes. Since ''Metaclostridioides mangenotii, C. mangenotii'' was further separated into a distinct genus in 2024, ''Clostridioides'' is a monotypic genus. Description They are obligate anaerobes capable of producing endospores. The normal, reproducing cells of ''Clostridioides'', called the vegetative form, are Bacillus (shape), rod-shaped, which gives them their name, from the Greek (language), Greek κλωστήρ or spindle. ''Clostridioides'' endospores, like ''Clostridium'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whipworm
''Trichuris trichiura, Trichocephalus trichiuris'' or whipworm, is a parasitic roundworm (a type of helminth) that causes trichuriasis (a type of helminthiasis which is one of the neglected tropical diseases) when it infects a human large intestine. It is commonly known as the ''whipworm'' which refers to the shape of the worm; it looks like a whip with wider "handles" at the posterior end. The helminth is also known to cause rectal prolapse. Life cycle The female ''T. trichiura'' produces 2,000–10,000 single-celled eggs per day. Eggs are deposited from human feces to soil where, after two to three weeks, they become embryonated and enter the "infective" stage. These embryonated infective eggs are ingested by hand-mouth or through fomites and hatch in the human small intestine, exploiting the intestinal microflora as a stimulus to hatching. This is the location of growth and molting. The infective larvae penetrate the villi and continue to develop in the small intestine. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strongyloidiasis
Strongyloidiasis is a human parasitic disease caused by the nematode called '' Strongyloides stercoralis'', or sometimes the closely related ''S. fülleborni''. These helminths belong to a group of nematodes called roundworms. These intestinal worms can cause a number of symptoms in people, principally skin symptoms, abdominal pain, diarrhea and weight loss, but also many other specific and vague symptoms in disseminated disease, and severe life-threatening conditions through hyperinfection. In some people, particularly those who require corticosteroids or other immunosuppressive medication, ''Strongyloides'' can cause a hyperinfection syndrome that can lead to death if untreated. The diagnosis is made by blood and stool tests. The medication ivermectin is widely used to treat strongyloidiasis. Strongyloidiasis is a type of soil-transmitted helminthiasis. Low estimates postulate it to affect 30–100 million people worldwide, mainly in tropical and subtropical countries, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
