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, where food is absorbed. You then have trouble breaking down (digesting) food and absorbing nutrients. Not absorbing nutrients is called malabsorption.

• 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)

The Small Intestine

video

Doctors don’t know what causes tropical sprue, but they think it may be from an infection.

Symptoms may include:

• Light-colored, soft, bulky, greasy, and unusually bad-smelling stool

• Diarrhea

• Fever

• General feeling of illness

• Weight loss

• Anemia (low red blood cells), which can make you feel weak and tired

Doctors will suspect tropical sprue if you:

• Recently lived in or visited the Caribbean, southern India, or Southeast Asia

• Have anemia (low red blood cell count)

• 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.

Treatments include:

• Vitamins to get enough iron, folate and vitamin B12