Antidiarrhoeal 2690 220554759 2008-06-20T12:36:42Z C6541 6629538 An '''anti-diarrheal drug''' is any [[medication]] which provides symptomatic relief for [[Diarrhea|diarrhea]]. ==Types== * [[Electrolyte]] solutions are used to replace lost fluids and [[salt]]s in acute cases. * [[Bulking agent]]s like [[methylcellulose]], [[guar gum]] or plant [[dietary fiber|fibre]] ([[bran]], [[sterculia]], [[ispaghul]], etc.) are used for diarrhea in functional bowel disease and to control [[ileostomy]] output. * [[Absorbent]]s absorb toxic substances that cause infective diarrhea, methylcellulose is an absorbent as well. * [[Opioid]]s classical use besides pain relief is use as an anti-diarrhea drug. Opioids have [[agonist]] actions on the intestinal opioid receptors, which when activated cause [[constipation]], drugs such as [[morphine]] or [[codeine]] can be used to relief of diarrhea this way. A notable opioid for the purpose of relief of diarrhea is [[Loperamide]] which only is an agonist of the [[mu_Opioid_receptor|μ opioid receptor]]s in the large intestine and does not have opioid affects in the [[central_nervous_system|central nervous system]] as it doesn't cross the [[blood-brain_barrier|blood brain barrier]] in significant amounts. This enables loperamide it to be used to the same benefit as other opioid drugs but without the CNS side effects or potential for abuse. ==See also== * [[ATC_code_A07#A07F_Antidiarrheal_micro-organisms]] {{Major Drug Groups}} {{Antidiarrheals, intestinal anti-inflammatory/anti-infective agents}} [[Category:Antidiarrhoeals|*]] [[ca:Antidiarreic]] [[fr:Antidiarrhéique]] [[hr:Antidijaroici]] [[id:Antidiare]] [[th:ยาแก้ท้องร่วง]]