Chronic diarrhea lasts for at least a month to be diagnosed as such, and can possibly last for several months. Acute diarrhea often needs no treatment, although there are some natural treatments that make you more comfortable and even eliminate the diarrhea altogether. A cup of black tea can not only taste nice and refreshing, but also help cure your diarrhea due to the astringent effect of the tannic acid it contains.

Diarrhea is classified as acute or chronic. Acute diarrhea is diarrhea that last less than 2 weeks and chronic last longer than 2 weeks. Most causes of diarrhea last 2-3 days. This chapter will look at acute diarrhea as chronic diarrhea could take up a whole book.

Natural treatments have no harmful side effects, and they also treat the underlying problem AND its symptoms. However, back to classifying diarrhea types and how they can be treated without drugs. The bug that causes diarrhea is bacteria. There are many different types and strands of bacteria, and a couple of examples of these bugs are E. coli and Salmonella. Have you experienced what I'm about to describe, or do you know someone who has... You know someone that is very nice and then meet his or her cousin only to find out that the cousin is a jerk? Well, now you understand E. coli. If you've heard of E. coli before, you may be imagining a very harmful bacteria. But that's only half of the story.

Causes:

A few points to keep in mind about the causes of acute diarrhea include:

• Viral infections present with diarrhea that lasts 2-3 days with no blood in the stool.

• Eating foods that bother the stomach and intestines can cause diarrhea. Sometimes keeping a food diary/bowel movement diarrhea can help you determine which foods cause diarrhea

• Parasites such as Guardia can present with loss of appetite, abdominal bloating and cramping and foul smelling stool.

• Some medications that cause diarrhea include: laxatives, medications for heart burn, antibiotics, magnesium containing products and alcohol.

• High fever - greater than 102 degrees Fahrenheit or prolonged fever

• Weight loss

• Those who are very young or very old

• Those with diabetes, heart or kidney disease

• Those with AIDS, cancer or organ transplants

• Pregnancy

Let's go over some home remedies you can use at home to avoid diarrhea:

• Diarrhea treatment can be achieved by using Ginger. In cases of diarrhea that were caused by indigestion, fresh or dry ginger has shown to be very useful. Use a piece of dry ginger along with a small crystal of rock salt, a qtr. Tsp. of this powder should be taken with a small piece of jaggery.

• Diarrhea treatment can be achieved by using Pomegranate. Pomegranate has shown to be very effective in treating diarrhea because of its astringent properties. If a patient becomes weak due to diarrhea, he or she should by given 50ml of Pomegranate juice to drink. This will help to control the diarrhea.