Diarrhea can be caused by infection, antibiotics, or teething in children. In diarrhea or dysentery, you have loose motions frequently. In acute case, your stool becomes very watery and quite frequently. If you loose too much water, you may suffer by dehydration. Diarrhea kills more children (about 1.9 million a year) than malaria, AIDS and TB combined. In fact, diarrhea is the second leading cause of death in children under 5 years of age.
To prevent dehydration, you should drink lots of water with some salt and sugar added. The symptoms of dehydration are dry mouth, sunken soft spot, lethargic, or frequent watery stools. Babies may in addition cry without tears, or do not produce urine for eight hours. These symptoms should be taken seriously for both the adults and children. A large number of children die due to dehydration each year.
Oral rehydration solution (ORS) works miracle in dehydration, if given quickly and gradually to the patient. ORS can be made from 1 teaspoon of salt and 8 teaspoons of sugar dissolved in a liter of water. Dr Dilip Mahalanabis who participated in the oral rehydration experiment at Johns Hopkins Center in Calcutta in 1971, India for treating the refugees from Bangladesh, could save thousands of lives of children and adults.
Foods to be avoided during diarrhea or dysentery:
Fruit juices, apricots, peas, pears, peaches, plums, prunes, etc..
Foods to be eaten during diarrhea or dysentery:
Yogurt (Yoghurt, Curd), buttermilk, mint, apple, pomegranate, papaya, banana, carrot, potato, etc. Children can also be given these foods.
Diarrhea can be treated by adding yogurt to the diet. Yogurt contains Lactobacillus Acidophilus (or L Acidophilus), which is a good bacteria that fights bad bacteria.