Steatorrhea is a medical term used to indicate the excessive presence of fat in the stool. It manifests itself with an abundant emission of pasty excrements, with a shiny and shiny appearance.
With a balanced diet, 60 to 100 g of lipids are introduced daily; we talk about steatorrhea when the fat content of the stool exceeds 6-7 grams (according to the authors).
Steatorrhea is therefore frequent in the presence of pancreatic insufficiency, pancreatitis, severe bile salt deficiency or extensive intestinal resections. Although the stomach is poorly involved in the digestion of lipids, patients who have undergone gastric resection experience steatorrhea more frequently. When the problem is pancreatic in nature, the lipid content in the diet is reduced and medium-chain fatty acids (MCT) are prescribed, which can be well absorbed even without the intervention of lipase.
By virtue of the complexity of the digestive systems involved, there is also a physiological malabsorption of lipids, normally between 4 and 6 grams per day. A diet rich in long-chain saturated fatty acids, which are difficult for the body to digest, can contribute to accentuating absorption difficulties and with them the onset of steatorrhea.
Babies breastfed with cow's milk are more frequently affected by the disorder, as this food is devoid of lipase (a digestive enzyme) that we find in breast milk.
Steatorrhea is a side effect of many weight loss drugs based on the inhibition of lipases and others, such as cholestyramine, which sequester bile acids to lower blood cholesterol levels. In this regard it is worth remembering that steatorrhea involves not only loss of energy, but also of essential fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins (essential substances for our well-being).
