Enteritis- what you need to know?

November 25, 2022 / Article

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What is Enteritis?

Enteritis is the infection or illness caused in the small intestine of the body. Rarely, the infection can also involve stomach gastritis and large intestine colitis. There are different types of Enteritis. The most common enteritis infections are:

  • viral or bacterial infection
  • radiation induced infection
  • medication induced infection
  • alcohol or drug induced infection
  • enteritis related to poor blood flow
  • enteritis-related Crohn disease or ulcerative colitis.

What are the symptoms of Enteritis?

Enteritis like viral Enteritis usually vanishes without any treatment in a few days. Proper medications should be consciously taken in case if you suspect bacterial Enteritis after a few days.

Symptoms may include:

What are the types of Enteritis?

There are two main types of Enteritis:

  1. Infectious Enteritis
  2. Radiation enteritis

Infectious Enteritis:

The most common bacterial Enteritis is caused by food poisoning. Consuming contaminated food often leads to bacterial Enteritis.

Here are some of the important parameters causing bacterial Enteritis:

  • Untidy food handling
  • Low hygiene foods
  • Poor meat processing

Here are some of the common bacteria that cause Enteritis:

  • Salmonella
  • Campylobacter
  • Staphylococcus aureus
  • Escherichia
  • Bacillus species
  • Yersinia enterocolitica
  • Shigella

Getting in close contact with the victims of Enteritis increases the chances of getting affected by bacterial Enteritis.

Radiation enteritis

Radiation enteritis commonly occurs after radiation therapy. Radiation deployed during radiation therapy not only kills cancer cells but also affects healthy cells present in the mouth, stomach, and bowel cells.

Radiation enteritis gradually develops when your healthy intestinal cells are damaged by radiation. This condition generally appears after weeks of radiation therapy treatment. A full recovery from radiation enteritis may take possibly six to twelve months after completing radiation therapy.

Sometimes, Enteritis can be caused due to:

  • improper medications like ibuprofen and naproxen
  • illegal drugs Example: cocaine

What are the Complications of Enteritis?

Dehydration is considered to be an important complication of Enteritis. Infants and young children are often vulnerable to dehydration. Dehydration is caused due to sweating, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Other symptoms of dehydration include:

  • Relentless thirst
  • Weakness
  • Fatigue
  • Lethargy
  • poor urine output
  • dark urine with a strong odour

When to seek medical care?

Dehydration is a perilous medical condition, and it should not be left untreated as it may lead to heart, kidney, and lung failure can lead to failure of kidneys, heart, and liver, and even death.

Seek medical care if you undergo any of the following:

  • High fever for more than three days
  • Fever exceeds over 102˚F (39˚C)
  • Increase in heart palpitation
  • dry mouth
  • Sullen eyes
  • lack of tears
  • low volume of urine
  • severe fatigue
  • Sunken fontanelles
  • dizziness

How should Enteritis be treated?

  • Water should be consumed at regular intervals to avoid dehydration.
  • People can consider taking electrolyte solutions for sufficient hydration.
  • In dire cases, people can sometimes opt for intravenous fluids.
  • In case of emergency, taking medications and hospitalization are required.
  • Surgery may be necessary in case of severe bowel damage.
  • If you suffer from radiation enteritis, you may to immediately reschedule your radiation therapy.

How to prevent Enteritis?

Good hygiene, cleanliness in food preparation, and cooking

Measures to Improve hygiene:

  • Wash Hands with soap on a regular basis
  • Never forget to wash your hands after using the bathroom
  • wash hands before preparing food and after preparing food
  • Hand wash with sanitizers before and after eating
  • Avoid drinking outside

Measures to prepare food:

  • Regular cleaning of kitchen surfaces and Utensils
  • Use separate utensils for cooking meat

Cooking tips

  • Never add unhygienic ingredients in cooking
  • Proper washing of chicken, fish, and eggs before cooking is mandatory

Food storage tips

  • Don’t use the product till the expiry
  • Regularly dispose of unused products
  • Do not leave food under the sun

Travel tips

  • Try drinking hot water outside the home.
  • choose restaurants where you can observe people preparing the food
  • Choose certified restaurants that are highly trustworthy.

Additional tips

  • Avoid smoking
  • Avoid excessive alcohol
  • Use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like NSAIDs, Aspirin, and oral steroids, etc
  • Talk to your doctor regularly about the possible side effects of medications and radiation therapy
  • Do not panic. Symptoms of Enteritis generally disappear a few days.

Conclusion:

This article completely covers everything that you need to about Enteritis and its remedies. If you strictly follow all the information and protocols as advised in this article, you may not get affected by Enteritis in future.


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The Information including but not limited to text, graphics, images and other material contained on this blog are intended for education and awareness only. No material on this blog is intended to be a substitute for professional medical help including diagnosis or treatment. It is always advisable to consult medical professional before relying on the content. Neither the Author nor Star Health and Allied Insurance Co. Ltd accepts any responsibility for any potential risk to any visitor/reader.

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