What Causes Brown And Black Flakes In Stool?

Posted on Tue, 14 Jan 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 14 Jan 2014 Answered on

Mon, 3 Feb 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi I have Brown and Black flakes in my stool ( diarea). I just lost my hustand in an accident, and now i am scared, that i have cancer. Should i be worried?

Answered by Dr. Poorna Chandra K.S (23 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Reassured Detailed Answer: Hi and thanks for the query Colour of the stools depends on the presence of stercobilinogen a bile acid metabolite and the components of the food. Hence depending on your diet the stool colour may vary Jet black pungent stools usually indicate presence of altered blood in stools. Hence unless you have these stool characteristics or if you are loosing weight and apetite, I donot think you should worry about it. You can get a stool routine examination with stool occult blood on three days to clarify the issue. Regards Dr XXXXXXX

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar