Bacterial intestinal diseases can be quite crippling, especially if you suffer from severe stomach pains and diarrhea. Typically, your intestines carry normal flora (bacteria) that aid in digestion of your food. When you suffer from certain illnesses, new or existing bacteria can wreak havoc on your intestines and subsequently affect your digestion of food. Specific bacterial intestinal diseases can play a role in making you very sick.
Bacterial Gastroenteritis
Bacterial gastroenteritis, also called infectious diarrhea, is a condition in which bacteria or its toxins irritate your stomach or intestinal walls. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, numerous types of bacteria can cause this type of gastroenteritis, include Campylobacter jejuni, clostridium, E. coli, salmonella, yersinia or staphylococcus. Symptoms of bacterial gastroenteritis include stomach cramps and pain, bloody stools, poor appetite, nausea and vomiting. Typically, your doctor will intravenously (through the vein) replace the fluids lost through your many bouts of diarrhea. Simply eating contaminated foods or drinking contaminated water can lead to these debilitating symptoms.
Pseudomembranous Colitis
The Clostridium difficile bacteria causes yet another bacterial intestinal disease called pseudomembranous colitis. According to the Mayo Clinic, pseudomembranous colitis is also called antibiotic-associated colitis or C. difficile colitis. In this disease, antibiotic medications cause a bacterial overgrowth on your intestinal walls. Symptoms of pseudomembranous colitis are similar to bacterial gastroenteritis. It can cause stomach pain or cramps, mucus or pus-containing diarrhea, nausea, dehydration and fever, says the Mayo Clinic. Typically, these symptoms occur one to two days after taking an antibiotic such as clindamycin. Your doctor will discontinue the antibiotic in question and prescribe another antibiotic such as metronidazole, vancomycin or rifaximin to decrease the population of Clostridium difficile bacteria in your intestines.
Small Bowel Bacterial Overgrowth
Small bowel bacterial overgrowth is a disease in which the normal bacteria in your intestines multiply and create physical manifestations. According to MedlinePlus, this occurs when you suffer from such medical conditions as AIDS, Crohn's disease (a type of inflammatory bowel disorder) and diverticulosis (condition in which you have small pockets of tissue forming on your intestinal wall). Symptoms of small bowel bacterial overgrowth include stomach pain, watery diarrhea and weight loss. Treatment includes antibiotic medications to decrease the number of bacteria and intravenous fluids to rehydrate you.
