PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT GRADE 11 - DIARRHOEA

If we have a severe attack of diarrhoea, we must replace the water and salts quickly.

We have to understand the working of the human body. Food goes down the food or alimentary canal to the stomach and on to the small intestine where water, salts and nutrients are absorbed through the gut wall to be spread around the body tissues from kidneys to the brain.

The small intestine is full of bacteria that has the work to break down our food. These are good bacteria. When the bacteria from the contaminated meat arrives in the intestine there is general infection of the small intestine.

Danger of Diarrhoea: This is a very dangerous sickness that can infect any person. It can be caused by the person eating contaminated meat that has bacteria busy breaking down the tissues. Absorption through the gut wall is stopped by the bacterial infection.

The nutrients and water pass straight out as pekpek water. As there is little or no water absorbed through the gut wall, the pispis or urine stops.

This is very dangerous as the body is not receiving water or salts. This can damage the kidneys and cause brain damage as the body has dried up over a period of days.

The next task is to remove the bad bacteria from the gut. This is done by antibiotics Septrin or Amoxylin. Within a day, the pekpek water stops. 

That means that the water and salts are being absorbed through the intestinal wall again now that the bad bacteria is dead.  The body organs are receiving water again.

The pekpek is hard again not like warm soup. The water is no longer passing out with the pekpek. The brain is working well again with water and salts.

Diarrhoea can kill if the sufferer is not treated with antibiotics. They can be brain damaged.

Danger of antibiotic abuse: The world faces a crisis that may attack every person living on earth over the next few years. The bacteria and viruses of the world are becoming immune to antibiotics.

Fifty years ago, children with infections on their bodies were given treatment with the infected area in hot water and antiseptic Dettol. The germs infecting the wound were killed and the sore slowly healed with more bathing in hot water and Dettol.

Now people are giving the child two or three antibiotic Amoxylin tablets. This kills most of the germs. But the strong germs that remain are becoming immune and strong enough to survive Amoxylin.

This occurs with HIV treatment, TB and malaria. There are TB germs that can travel from person to person in cough droplets and the germs are immune to anti-TB medication.

There has not been a new antibiotic on the market for several years as the germs are becoming immune to all drugs.

What is going to happen to the human race if we cannot stop immune germs? The first antibiotic was penicillin but that was almost a century ago. The human race may all die out.

People must not take one or two antibiotic tablets and then stop. They must take the whole dose of 12 -15 tablets. That may kill all germs and not cause immunity.