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Chronic Diarrhea

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Textbook of Clinical Pediatrics

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Diarrhea is a recognized manifestation of a variety of gastrointestinal diseases. While the majority of diarrheal episodes last less than 2 weeks and are self-limited, a smaller proportion of diarrheal illnesses persists for more than 2 weeks, substantially impacting the quality of life and the overall health of the individual; not only because of the inconvenience of persistent diarrhea, but also because of the risk of malnutrition and even death.

Definition

Diarrhea is defined as frequent passage of loose stools. Diarrhea occurs when the stool volume exceeds the normal value of approximately 10 g/kg/day in infants and toddlers, and 200 g/day in older children and adults. This is typically manifested as loose or watery stools occurring at least three times a day. However, since the absolute limits of normal bowel movements is difficult to define, with normal bowel movements ranging from three times/week to three times/day, any deviation from the child’s usual pattern should raise...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 903 High Mountain Road, Franklin Lakes, NJ, 07417, USA

    Dr. Jumana Shammout (Pediatric Gastroenterologist)

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Islamic Hospital, P.O. Box 11350, 11942, Amman, Jordan

    Hisham M. Nazer (Consultant Pediatric Gastroenterologist, Professor of Pediatrics)

Authors
  1. Dr. Jumana Shammout
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  2. Hisham M. Nazer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jumana Shammout .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

    Abdelaziz Y. Elzouki (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

  2. National Center of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (NCAAI), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Harb A. Harfi (Director) (Director)

  3. Consultant Pediatric Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Islamic Hospital, Amman, Jordan

    Hisham M. Nazer

  4. Seattle Children's Hospital University of Washington, School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

    F. Bruder Stapleton (Professor and Chair Department of Pediatrics) (Professor and Chair Department of Pediatrics)

  5. Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Woman and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI, USA

    William Oh (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

  6. University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Richard J. Whitley (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Shammout, J., Nazer, H.M. (2012). Chronic Diarrhea. In: Elzouki, A.Y., Harfi, H.A., Nazer, H.M., Stapleton, F.B., Oh, W., Whitley, R.J. (eds) Textbook of Clinical Pediatrics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02202-9_190

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02202-9_190

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-02201-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-02202-9

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