What is the cause of diarrhea?

Answer 1

Answer
Mucus may lighten the color of stool, but it will never turn it white.
You very likely have a liver blockage. A substance called urobilinogen gives stool its dark color. Urobilinogen is a product of bilirubin degradation. Bilirubin is a breakdown product of red blood cells, which is degraded in the liver. If stools are white or clay colored, you probably have a blockage.
Go to the doctor immediately!


The above user was only partially right there are several reasons one might get white stool.

Causes of White Bowel Movement
When less than normal or no bile is excreted from the liver into the bowel (cholestasis), excreted stool will be pale, clay, gray, or white. Someone can describe it as a lightcolor, but this is not bright yellow bowel movement, and also not mucus in the bowel movement that is jelly-like and translucent. Main causes of white bowel movement are:

• Obstruction of the biliary duct (due to gallstones, inflammation, fibrosis, cancer, pressure from outside (pancreatic cancer or cyst, abdominal tumor like fibroma) - appears with cramping pains in the right upper abdomen
• Obstruction of outflow of the bile from the liver due to liver disease (viral hepatitis, fatty liver, alcohol liver disease, cirrhosis, hemochromatosis, or rarely tuberculosis, spread of cancer into the liver (liver metastases) - may appear with fullness or pain in upper right abdomen, jaundice, nausea, or vomiting

White Diarrhea
Above reasons (obstruction of bile flow), or lack of pancreatic enzyme lipase that digests fats prevents fat absorption in the small intestine. Unabsorbed fats will reach the colon and irritate it thus causing diarrhea. Loose, white, sticky, greasy, foamy, floating, smelly stool appearing several hours after a fatty meal is called steatorrhea. Main causes of white diarrhea are:

• Acute or chronic pancreatitis (low appetite, pain in middle or left upper abdomen, nausea)
• Pancreatic cancer (low appetite, loosing weight)
• Liver or biliary duct disease
• Severe inflammation of small intestine (Crohn's disease, celiac disease, tuberculosis, severe food poisoning)
• Candida overgrowth in large intestine (in persons with lowered immunity, like in AIDS or after chemotherapy)

Other Causes of White Stool
White stool may appear after:

• Barium enema
• Antacids

White Specs in the Stool…
..may represent:

• undigested food like rice or seeds
• unabsorbed drugs
• parasite eggs
• clumps of fungi (Candida albicans) in heavy disease like AIDS, or in immunosuppression from chemotherapy or radiation therapy…

Diagnosis
Stool fat test may reveal fats in the stool.
Blood tests:

• White blood cells are elevated in pancreatitis, bowel inflammation
• Pancreatic enzymes (lipase) in the blood may be elevated (pancreatic disease)
• Liver enzymes in the blood may be elevated (liver, biliary duct disease)

Ultrasound of abdomen may reveal gallstones in gallbladder, or rarely in biliary duct, swollen pancreas (in pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer or cyst), or abdominal tumor. Treatment
Original disease has to be treated.
In white diarrhea low-fat diet has to be introduced.

Answer 2

There are a significant number of causes of diarrhea. It typically is caused by something that irritates the gastrointestinal tract. Acute diarrhea is usually related to a bacterial, viral, or parasitic infection. Chronic diarrhea is usually related to functional disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease. Some examples of the many causes are:

• Viral infections. Norwalk Flu (viral gastroenteritis caused by norovirus or other viruses), aka "stomach flu", are the most common causes of acute diarrhea. Many other viruses cause diarrhea, including rotavirus, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus, and viral hepatitis.
• Reaction to medicines. Many medications can have the side effect of diarrhea. Antibiotics that kill the "good bacteria" are an example. Without the good bacteria, other microbes can grow out of control and irritate the gut causing diarrhea. Additional medicines that can cause diarrhea include: blood pressure medications, cancer drugs, antacids containing magnesium, NSAIDS, and antiarrhythmia heart medicines.
• Parasites. Parasites, worms, etc. can enter the body through food or water and exposure to others who harbor them, and settle in the digestive system. Parasites that cause diarrhea include Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica, and Cryptosporidium.
• Bacterial infections. Several types of bacteria consumed through contaminated food (food poisoning) or water can cause diarrhea and are well known as: traveler's diarrhea, Delhi Belly, and Montezuma's Revenge. Additionally, not washing your hands after use of the restroom can allow you to pick up microbes and parasites from others that cause diarrhea. Common bacterial culprits include Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, and Escherichia coli (E. coli).
• Unsafe drinking water. Besides the possible parasites, viral and bacterial infections, unsafe drinking water can contain toxic pollutants and the toxins made by bacteria that cause diarrhea.
• Acute or Chronic systemic diseases and Intestinal diseases. Inflammatory bowel disease, colitis, Crohn's disease, Celiac disease, IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), gastrointestinal cancers, ulcerative colitis, pancreatitis, Addison's Disease (pituitary), diabetes, hyperthyroidism, AIDS, etc. are common causes especially of chronic diarrhea. Acute diarrhea is often found with severe infections and septicemia.
• Food intolerance. Some people are unable to digest food components such as artificial sweeteners, like Maltitol, etc. and lactose - the sugar found in milk (lactose intolerance).
• Psychosomatic causes. Anxiety, stress, and panic attacks can create diarrhea.
• Alcohol consumption can be a cause in some people, as well as chronic Alcoholism due to various organ damage caused by alcohol abuse.
• Bowel irregularity/constipation can cause diarrhea. If the bowel is impacted and unable to eliminate the feces, diarrhea can result as the body's response to try to flush the impaction out.
• Laxative abuse. Some people overuse laxatives which can result in chronic diarrhea.

There are many causes of diarrhea. These causes can be from food poisoning, viruses, bacteria, or parasites. Most cases of viral diarrhea run it's course in a matter of days.

Answer 3

White diarrhea could mean an infection of enteric organisms. Vibro cholera could be the culpret causing "rice water stools". source: Microbiology, A systems approach; Cowan and Talaro

Answer 4

what causes white diarrhea in humans?