How to alleviate acute gastroenteritis

Written by Li Ying
Gastroenterology
Updated on September 04, 2024
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For acute gastroenteritis, the first step is to provide general treatment, which is to have the patient rest in bed as much as possible. For mild cases, oral rehydration solutions can be used to replenish lost fluids. If the patient has persistent vomiting or noticeable dehydration, they need to replenish with glucose-salt water or other relevant electrolytes. Patients should try to eat a light diet, consisting of semi-liquid foods, to prevent dehydration. Secondly, symptomatic treatment should be administered if necessary, including injections of antiemetic and antispasmodic medications, as well as antidiarrheal drugs. Thirdly, antimicrobial treatment, which is mainly targeted at infectious diarrhea, should involve the appropriate use of targeted antibiotics, but it is important to prevent their misuse.

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What should pregnant women do about gastroenteritis?

During pregnancy, if a pregnant woman experiences gastrointestinal inflammation, it can cause abdominal pain and diarrhea, mostly due to unhygienic dietary habits during pregnancy. For example, aside from avoiding raw, hard, or moldy foods, attention should be paid to adjusting the diet to include foods that are bland and easier to digest and absorb. For instance, consuming porridge such as millet porridge, soft noodles, etc., and moderately increasing the intake of fresh vegetables and fruits to enhance physical health. If the gastrointestinal inflammation leads to severe abdominal pain or diarrhea, it is necessary to go to the hospital promptly. After examination by a doctor, guided medication treatment should be carried out.

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Can you smoke with gastroenteritis?

If suffering from gastroenteritis, the main clinical symptoms usually include abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, or fever. If these symptoms occur, it is best to test the stool and blood to determine whether the infection is bacterial or viral, and then treat accordingly. It is not recommended for patients with gastroenteritis to smoke, as smoking primarily harms the lungs, easily causing chronic bronchitis, asthma, or even allergies. Furthermore, smoking can affect the blood concentration of medications, thus during the treatment of gastroenteritis with oral medications or intravenous infusions, smoking can affect the efficacy of the treatment. Therefore, patients with gastroenteritis should not smoke.

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How to stop diarrhea in acute gastroenteritis

First of all, start with diet and daily habits by paying attention to keeping warm and avoiding catching a cold, especially for patients with gastrointestinal-type colds. The diet should consist of light and easy-to-digest foods, such as porridge and soft noodles, with some salt added to replenish electrolytes. Avoid eating foods that are too cold or greasy and spicy. Regarding medication, different treatments should be adopted according to different causes of the disease. For patients with gastrointestinal-type colds caused by viral infections, antiviral and astringent antidiarrheal medications are generally used. If the infection is caused by improper diet, the main treatment involves anti-inflammatory medications to achieve hemostasis.

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Acute gastroenteritis treatment

The treatment of acute gastroenteritis should be based on the specific cause. For those cases caused by exposure to the cold or other reasons leading to gastrointestinal flu, the main treatment is antiviral and antidiarrheal. For infectious diarrhea caused by improper diet and other reasons, the treatment generally focuses on antibacterial and antidiarrheal measures. Generally, patients with mild acute gastroenteritis can still eat on their own, and other symptoms are not very severe, so they can be treated by taking oral medications. In more severe cases, such as significant vomiting and diarrhea, where the patient cannot eat, intravenous therapy may be necessary. In cases with severe symptoms such as dehydration, dry mouth, reduced urine output, and poor skin elasticity, hospitalization may be required.

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How to thoroughly treat acute gastroenteritis?

The main treatment methods for acute gastroenteritis are as follows. Firstly, the patient should rest in bed. If the patient has persistent vomiting, or shows signs of dehydration caused by vomiting, it is necessary to promptly rehydrate the patient. Regarding the diet, it is advisable for the patient to consume liquid or semi-liquid foods, such as porridge and rice soup, to prevent dehydration. Secondly, it is crucial to treat the symptoms. If the patient has uncontrollable vomiting, we can administer antiemetic medications to alleviate this symptom. Thirdly, in the case of antimicrobial treatment, common gastroenteritis may involve bacterial infections, which require antibiotics for targeted treatment of infectious diarrhea. However, it is important to avoid overuse or misuse of these antimicrobial drugs. Furthermore, attention must be paid to dietary habits. It is essential to wash hands before meals and after using the toilet, and to properly disinfect raw vegetables, fruits, and meats, which should be thoroughly cooked before consumption, to effectively prevent the occurrence of gastroenteritis.