Causes of Acute Diarrhea

Acute diarrhea is defined as loose or watery stools with a greater frequency than normal for a period no longer than 14 days, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Once it surpasses this time frame, it would move into another category, being referred to as either persistent or chronic diarrhea. When someone suffers from acute diarrhea, the reasons really run the gamut, but a number of causes are more common than others.

Infection

• One of the more common causes of acute diarrhea involves the infection of the stomach, small intestines or colon with a virus. What happens with a viral infection is that some sort of "bug" infiltrates the digestive system, prompting an inflammation within one or more of the organs. As soon as the walls of the stomach, small intestines or colon become inflamed, it will cause food to pass faster than normal or fluids to cease in absorption. When either of these two events takes place, a person will experience a greater frequency of loose stools.

Parasites

• If someone were to ingest a food or substance containing a parasite or a bacterium, like E. coli, salmonella or cryptosporidium, there is a greater potential to suffer from acute diarrhea. With this cause of diarrhea, it would be the body's reaction not to the parasitic pathogen itself, but to what this pathogen introduces into the system. When the parasite or bacteria makes its way into a person's intestines, it will quickly attach itself to the walls of a person's digestive tract. Once there, it releases a toxin that causes a person to cramp and then pass a loose or watery stool.

Medications

• For some people, acute diarrhea is actually caused by the introduction of a medication, especially in the form of antibiotics. When someone suffers from diarrhea due to medication, it will be a result of an imbalance created within the digestive system. Everyone has bacteria, both good and bad, living within their intestines, but antibiotics aren't impartial. They'll wipe the whole area of these naturally occurring organisms, sometimes eliciting diarrhea from the individual.

Diet

• There is also the potential for acute diarrhea to be caused by a person's diet, namely a specific substance that the body adversely reacts to. If someone were to have an intolerance to lactose, fructose, gluten, caffeine or sorbitol (an artificial sweetener), the body would quickly rid the digestive system of the substance, causing a person to suffer from a bout of diarrhea.

Surgery

• Sometimes a person who has undergone surgery can suffer from acute diarrhea. With this cause of diarrhea, it is more so a reaction from the body to the procedure itself than anything internally wrong with the individual. As the body heals, the diarrhea will typically dissipate.

Exercise

• It's also completely possible for a person to suffer from an acute case of exercise-induced diarrhea. When someone suffers from this "type" of diarrhea, it can be due to a number of different factors. It could be the timing of a meal in relation to a workout, the type of workout in which someone is engaged, the length of time the workout was performed or the intensity of the actual workout itself. Whatever the reason, the digestive system is experiencing a reduction in the time in which it takes to produce a stool. When this happens, the fluid within the stool isn't appropriately absorbed, making it loose and watery.