Your small intestine is where food is absorbed.
Malabsorption Overview of Malabsorption Food you eat has to be digested before it can go into your body. Digestion breaks food down into its separate parts: Proteins Fats Carbohydrates Proteins, fats, and carbohydrates are nutrients... read more is when you have trouble absorbing the nutrients in your food. Nutrients are things that provide nutrition to your body. They include protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals.
What is tropical sprue?
Tropical sprue is a rare disorder affecting people in tropical and subtropical countries. It causes problems with the lining in your small intestine. You then have trouble breaking down (digesting) food and absorbing nutrients.
Symptoms include feeling unwell, light-colored stools, diarrhea, and weight loss
A doctor looks for symptoms in a person who lives in or has recently visited one of the areas where the disorder commonly happens (the Caribbean, southern India, and Southeast Asia)
Doctors use tetracycline (an antibiotic) to treat tropical sprue
What causes tropical sprue?
Doctors don’t know what causes tropical sprue, but they think it may be from an infection.
What are the symptoms of tropical sprue?
Symptoms may include:
Light-colored, soft, bulky, greasy, and unusually bad-smelling stool
Diarrhea
Fever
General feeling of illness
Weight loss
Anemia Overview of Anemia Anemia is not having enough red blood cells or hemoglobin. Red blood cells carry oxygen from your lungs to all of your other organs. Hemoglobin is the substance inside your red blood cells that... read more (low red blood cells), which can make you feel weak and tired
How can doctors tell if I have tropical sprue?
Doctors will suspect tropical sprue if you:
Recently lived in or visited the Caribbean, southern India, or Southeast Asia
Have diarrhea that lasts for a long time
Doctors may do a:
Biopsy from your small intestine
Blood test to look for malnutrition
Stool test to look for another cause for symptoms, such as bacteria or parasites
With a biopsy, doctors take a small sample of tissue using instruments on the end of an endoscope (a flexible viewing tube). They then look at the sample under a microscope.
How do doctors treat tropical sprue?
Treatments include:
Tetracycline, an antibiotic, sometimes for up to 6 months
Vitamins to get enough iron, folate and vitamin B12
