Yellowish stool may be a sign that the digested fat of food was not properly absorbed intestine or indicate little amount of bile excreted with feces.
Diseases that hinder the absorption of fats or liver problems which cause a decrease in the excretion of bile, as hepatitis A, may leave the stools yellow.
Among diseases that can cause deficiency in fat absorption, pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), the celiac disease (gluten intolerance of genetic origin) and giardiasis (intestinal parasitosis caused by the protozoan Giardia lamblia)
In these cases, the stools are usually yellow and watery, and may have drops of fat around them.
If the yellowish stools are sporadic and are accompanied by diarrhea short-term, the cause is likely to be a food poisoning or a gastroenteritis and the malabsorption of fats is transient.
THE low bile concentration in the stool may also leave them yellow. In these cases, the origin may be liver problems that affect bile excretion, as in hepatitis A, for example.
For an adequate diagnosis of the cause of yellowish stools, consult your general practitioner or family doctor.
