Antidiarrhoeal
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2008-06-20T12:36:42Z
C6541
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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]]