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The Curious Bag
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White-colored bowel movements indicate that your body lacks bile and that you need medical attention. Stored in the gallbladder, bile turns fat into fatty acid. White stool means that you have a serious health problem affecting the liver, gallbladder or small intestines.
Biliary Atresia
Biliary atresia is a liver and bile duct condition in infants that causes white stool. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center says it develops two to eight weeks after birth.
Hepatitis
White stool is a symptom of hepatitis, a liver inflammation caused by infection; liver damage; high blood pressure medications; or autoimmune disorders.
Gallstones
Symptoms of gallstones include pale stool accompanied by lower abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Gallstones are pebble-like stones made of cholesterol or excessive bilirubin in bile, according to MedlinePlus.
Tests
Doctors diagnose the cause of white-colored stool by doing blood work to check liver function using abdominal ultrasounds and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).
Diagnosis
Physicians will ask you what other symptoms accompany your white-colored stool to diagnose the cause. Treatment options include dietary changes, medications and surgery if there are obstructions.
Source:
Cincinnati Children's Hospital: Biliary Atresia
MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Hepatitis
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