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RE: SELF-MEDICATION FROM DIARRHOEA PERSPECTIVE
I believe diarrhea has grades. I once had one during which I needed nobody to tell me to go to a hospital. While some could be mild and easily handled with OTC drugs, severe ones should be handled by capable hands.
Then, what is the best choice of drug to treat mild diarrhea? How safe or effective is the metronidazole/tetracycline combination to treat mild diarrhea that is quite popular among Nigerians?
Is there any difference between diarrhea and dysentary?
I agree with you that diarrhoea has grades and that is why I described it's severity based on the number of stools as mild, moderate and severe. how safe or effective? Using antibiotics in the treatment of mild diarrhoea without prescription should be discouraged to combat the increase in antibiotics resistance, interestingly, most mild diarrhoea infection are caused by viruses and the symptoms are self-limiting. (resolves after a couple of days, whether you take drugs or not) .
Yes, there is a difference between diarrhoea and dysentery.
Diarrhoea and dysentery can be differentiated in any of the following ways:
Diarrhoea involves the frequent passage of watery stool with no blood or mucus, although dysentery also involves frequent passage of stool, the presence of mucoid and sometimes blood differentiates it.
Fever, cramps and pain are less common in diarrhoea but these symptoms are usually associated with dysentery.
Diarrhoeal is an infection that targets only intestinal lumen and upper epithelial cells (affects the small bowel). Dysentery targets not only upper epithelial cells but colon ulceration also results.
Diarrhoea is usually a viral infection although others pathogens listed in the article can also cause watery diarrhoea. Dysentery is bacterial, Escherichia coli, Shigella, and Salmonella are the most common causative organisms