Characteristics of feces

What are feces?

Stool is the body's waste material that is eliminated rectally.

Under normal conditions, faeces are made up of 75% water and 25% solid material which includes bacteria, undigested fiber, fat, inorganic matter (calcium and phosphates), mucus, desquamated intestinal cells and some proteins. A significant part of the fecal mass is not of food origin; in fact, faeces are formed even during fasting.

• Stool Color: Brown due to the chemical conversion of bilirubin into urobilin and stercobilin by intestinal bacteria and enzymes.
• Stool odor: is the result of bacterial breakdown of proteins in the intestine.
• Stool consistency: soft and cylindrical in shape that is the size of the rectum.
• stool pH: normally neutral or slightly alkaline (6.8 - 7.5).
• Amount of feces: 150 to 300 g of feces are produced daily.

The average passage time of undigested food residues in the human intestine is 50 hours in men and 57 hours in women, with large intra and inter-individual variations (minimums well below 20 hours and maximums above 20 hours). 100 hours).

Did you know that ... 75% of the total weight of the stool is represented by water on average. This percentage can vary significantly in the presence of diarrhea or hard and dehydrated stools

Characteristics of Feces

The objective examination of the feces can help us to understand the state of health of our digestive system. In particular, if one of the following anomalies is found, it is advisable to contact your doctor to undergo a check-up.

1. The presence of blood in the stool indicates a source of intestinal bleeding.
   • Provenance:
     upper digestive tract: black tar color (melena);
     lower digestive tract: bright red blood (rectorrhagia, hematochezia);
   • colic bleeding: blood mixed with stool;
     rectal or anal bleeding: streaks of blood on stool or toilet paper (hemorrhoids, fissures or tumors of the last intestinal tract).
2. Poorly formed, greasy, greasy, foul-smelling, greyish with silver highlights that stick to the toilet: steatorrhea (pathological condition in which there is an exaggerated loss of fat in the stool).
3. Acolic (clay-colored) stools: they are the result of insufficient digestion of fats due to biliary obstruction.
4. Presence of mucus or pus: ulcerative colitis, infectious colitis, hairy tumors.
5. Small, dry, hard stools: constipation (constipation), intestinal obstruction.
6. With a marble-like appearance (shiny, slightly oxidized: irritable bowel syndrome.
7. Gray and creamy stools: found in subjects with fat absorption disorders.
8. Increased water content in the stool (diarrhea).
9. Dark stools: excess iron in the diet, intake of charcoal, gastric bleeding. In general constipation is associated with dark stools, while diarrhea is associated with lighter stools.
10. I made it clear they could also be a symptom of hepatitis and, more generally, of reduced liver or biliary tract activity.

In addition to the physical examination there are laboratory investigations to search for the presence of alterations not visible to the naked eye (presence of occult blood in the stool, presence of infections, etc.).