Understanding Stool Color Changes: Causes and Concerns

Food can change the color of your stool, but some medications and supplements can also affect it.
The cause could be bleeding, bacteria, or cancer
If symptoms persist, go to the hospital for diagnosis

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[바이오타임즈] It is difficult to accurately determine the presence and risk of disease based on stool color. However, feces are one of the important indicators of the state of our body, as they make it easier to determine health risks in daily life.

Stool color can also be affected by secondary processes, such as what you eat and drink and some medications and supplements. However, if the abnormal color of stool persists and is not due to temporary changes due to the food consumed, it is better to refer to the following cases and go to the hospital or clinic promptly for treatment.

◇White/grey→pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer and biliary atresia

If your stool is white or gray, it could mean that not enough bile is reaching your digestive tract. This could indicate a problem with the condition of the liver, bile ducts, or pancreas.

The reason normal stool is brown is because of bile. Bile is produced in the liver and moves through the biliary tract to the duodenum. Here, after meeting the food, it goes down into the intestine and when it meets the intestinal bacteria, it turns brown, ocher or yellow.

However, if the bile is not excreted properly, the bile does not mix with the stool and steatorrhea occurs, making the stool white, silver, or gray in color. Additionally, stool is oily and usually has a strong odor.

Steatorrhea refers to a condition in which fat gets stuck in the stool because the fat is not digested or absorbed properly. Oily steatorrhea may appear temporarily due to a diet high in calories and fat. However, if steatorrhea recurs, it may be a sign of pancreatic or biliary tract disease.

The pancreas is an organ responsible for digestion and secretes digestive enzymes to facilitate digestion. If this enzyme is not secreted properly due to pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer, fat is not secreted well, causing steatorrhea.

Unlike acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer often causes no pain or goes away after a while, so caution is needed as it can be overlooked. Pancreatic cancer is a very dangerous cancer with a survival rate of only about 12%. If the disease progresses to stage 3 or 4, surgery is not easy, so it is important to be aware of suspicious signs, detect the disease as early as possible and start treatment.

Among biliary diseases, steatorrhea can be observed in patients with biliary atresia. The bile duct (biliary tract) is a passage through which bile secreted by the liver flows. If this passage is blocked, bile cannot be secreted and fat cannot be broken down properly. Biliary atresia usually appears in babies soon after birth, and the same symptoms can also occur if the passage is blocked due to cholecystitis or gallstones.

◇Yellow, orange → Crohn’s disease, celiac disease

Yellow or orange stools can be caused by excess fat, but they can also indicate a condition in which fat is not being absorbed properly.

If there is a lot of fat in the stool, the stool may appear yellow and in most cases it is the sign of a disease similar to digestive disorders, which may be due to disorders of fat absorption caused by excessive excretion of fat from feces. the body. However, it could also be an indicator of Crohn’s disease.

Crohn’s disease is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation throughout the digestive tract, from the mouth to the anus. Cystic fibrosis is a disease caused by a genetic defect, which causes inflammation of the lungs and digestive organs and malabsorption.

If your stool is yellow or orange due to poor fat absorption, you may have celiac disease (chronic digestive disorder), pancreatic disease, or certain infections. Celiac disease is a chronic immune and digestive disease that causes disturbances in the small intestine when gluten protein, an insoluble protein found in grains such as wheat and barley, is consumed.

Orange and yellow vegetables contain a pigment called keratin, so if you eat foods like sweet potatoes, carrots or milk, you can rest assured that your stool will naturally take on this color.

◇Green → Bacterial infection

Green stool is the result of food moving rapidly through the GI tract (gastrointestinal tract) and the green bile mixed in the stool not being broken down into brown. When you eat a lot of green vegetables like spinach or kale, your stool may appear green.

If your stool is good quality, abundant and green in color, it is most likely due to the food you ate or the iron supplement you took.

However, green stool can sometimes be a sign of a bacterial infection. In addition to green stool, if you feel unwell and have diarrhea, you should look for signs that the problem is caused by bacteria such as salmonella, giardia, or norovirus.

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◇Red → Colon cancer, ischemic colitis, colonic diverticulum

Caution is needed as red stools are more likely to contain blood. There are various causes of blood in the stool. The anus can be temporarily torn and can be caused by diseases such as ischemic colitis or colonic diverticulum. It can also be a sign of colon cancer, which occurs when a wound forms in the large intestine, causing blood to mix with stool.

Bleeding related to anal wounds such as hemorrhoids usually shows bright red blood, but in cases of colon cancer, the appearance varies depending on the location of the cancer and the amount of bleeding.

Bleeding that occurs in the upper part of the large intestine will result in black or dark red blood mixed with the stool, while bleeding from a tumor near the rectum, which is located at the end of the large intestine, will result in even redder blood . . However, it is difficult to distinguish colon cancer based on color alone, so if you observe blood in your stool, you should see a doctor immediately.

If it is caused by ischemic colitis (a disease in which inflammation and necrosis occurs due to reduced blood flow to the colon) or a colonic diverticulum (a protrusion of the colon wall due to relaxation), excessive bleeding can lead to death from shock.

In particular, if a person with high blood pressure or diabetes suddenly feels pain in the lower left abdomen and is accompanied by blood in the stool, ischemic colitis should be suspected. In older adults, if bright red blood comes out with a bowel movement and the stomach is full, the chest is pounding, and the patient feels dizzy, he or she may be bleeding from a diverticulum in the colon. In either case, you should see a doctor immediately.

Occasionally, there are people who experience blood in the stool after eating certain foods, but the foods do not cause blood in the stool. There is a high possibility that the ingredients in the food will affect the color of the stool and make it look bloody, so there is no need to worry. If you eat beets or tomatoes, your stool may turn red, while if you eat blueberries or wine, you may see red-brown stool.

◇Black → Colon cancer, stomach ulcers

If you take iron supplements, laxatives containing bismuth subsalicylate, or eat dark foods like blackberries, your stool may appear especially cloudy. Constipation can also cause stool to thicken and appear particularly black. However, bleeding in the upper digestive tract due to colon cancer or stomach ulcers may also be suspected.

Black, bloody stools may mean that bleeding has occurred in the upper digestive organs, such as the esophagus, stomach, or duodenum, relatively far from the anus. As the blood moves toward the anus, it comes into contact with oxygen and oxidizes, turning black instead of red.

The shape and color of stool are especially important in identifying colon cancer. If the cancer occurs in the right colon, it is accompanied by indigestion, abdominal pain, and black, bloody stools. Cancer that develops in the left colon manifests itself with symptoms such as thin stools, a feeling of discomfort after defecating, and stools that are red and contain blood.

There is no need to worry about cancer just because your stool is black. In this case, gastroscopy, which can examine the condition of the upper gastrointestinal tract, can help find the cause of blood in the stool.

[바이오타임즈=김가람 기자] news@biotimes.co.kr

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