Yellow Stool - Causes, Symptoms and Therapy

Yellow stools sometimes appear as a concomitant of a disease. Usually, however, he has no dramatic cause, because the bowel movement also varies normally between brown and yellowish. Disease, however, suggests that not only the color but also the consistency of the stool changes, for example in the form of yellow diarrhea.

contents

• Cause: nutrition
• Go to the doctor?
• Diseases as causes
• treatment

Cause: nutrition

Eggs, foods that contain lots of starch and dairy products can turn the stool yellow. If you consume a lot of milk, it even turns deep yellow. By contrast, animal foods contain hemoglobin, which makes the stool dark. Sterkobilin, a waste product of hemoglobin, stains the stool both yellow and brown. The more Sterkobilin the droppings contain, the darker it gets. Who eats a lot of meat, whose intestines release a strong brown porridge. In case of diarrhea, the stool contains a lot of water, which dilutes the color: turning brown into yellow.

The causes of yellow bowel movements can be harmless. Sometimes there is a serious illness behind it. Picture: itman__47 - fotolia

Go to the doctor?

Yellow bowel movements alone is no reason to see a doctor. Only when accompanied by other symptoms, a doctor's visit is advisable. These include: Chronic fatigue, nausea, abdominal pain or diarrhea.

Yellowish stool, associated with severe diarrhea and symptoms such as a flu infection may be due to Giardia. These are parasites that live in water and waste.

Chronic fatigue combined with yellow stool may indicate liver disease. If the bile ducts are closed, the dyes barely get into the intestine and the feces get lighter.

Yellow bowel movements in conjunction with severe abdominal pain may also be an indication of glandular fever.

A yellowish stink that smells horrible may indicate a pancreas failure, such as inflammation. Yellow faeces are also caused by the absence of bile salts.

Diseases as causes

1) diseases of the liver

2) tumors of the gallbladder, pancreas or liver

3) gallstones

4) primary biliary cirrhosis, an autoimmune disease

However, these diseases are all associated with additional concomitant symptoms: nausea, fever, itching, or yellowing of the skin and eyes.

Gallstones are a possible cause of yellowish stools. Image: Henrie - fotolia

In the case of the so-called fatty stool, the body can only process the fat inadequately. The fat content in the stool increases and the digestion is accelerated.

treatment

Yellow bowel movements are only part of a treatment if there is a disease. Almost always changes the color of the bowel movement but with a change in diet. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)
Specialist supervision: Barbara Schindewolf-Lensch (doctor)