When material passes too quickly through the colon not all of the water is absorbed and the discharge from the bowels will be watery. This is often serious, leading to severe dehydration and loss of salts. It can often be fatal if not treated, especially in infants or people already suffering from another illness.

It can be caused by poisons or indigestible substances in the intestine, nervous shock or tension. Diarrhoea will also occur with inflammatory diseases of the intestine, such as enteritis, colitis, cholera, typhoid fever, bacillary and amoebic dysentery and intestinal worm infections.

Bibliography

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th Edition. (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1986)

Encyclopaedia Britannica, Volume 7. (Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1970)

The Book of Popular Science Encyclopaedia. (New York: Grolier, 1961)

The Software Toolworks Multimedia Encyclopaedia, Release 6. (New York: Grolier, 1996)

Encarta 96 Encyclopaedia. (Redmond: Microsoft, 1996)