Therapeutic Interventions in Diarrhea

Abstract

Consideration of the formidable array of recent scientific information on the epidemiology, etiology, pathogenesis, and physiologic mechanisms of diarrhea, along with the myriad interrelationships with nutrition, leads, fortunately, to a coherent and relatively concise series of recommendations for the clinical management of these interacting conditions. This summary indicates the practical therapeutic guidelines aimed at the practitioner and community health worker to be derived from the extensive literature. Implementation of these measures will substantially reduce not only the immediate deleterious effects of diarrhea, dehydration, and in some cases death, but also the longer-term, more prevalent, and insidious adverse effects on nutrition.