Bile Acid Malabsorption or Diarrhoea (BAM) is a cause of chronic diarrhoea with the patients having their bowels open several times a day. There can be number of reasons why patients get this condition and these have been placed in to three types:
Bile salts are made in your liver (see diagram). When you eat a meal, especially if it has fat in it, these bile salts are released from your liver and gall bladder (if you still have one) into your upper intestine (duodenum). They help to digest the food as it travels through your small bowel. When the bile salts reach the far end of your small bowel, they are mostly absorbed back into your body and travel back in the blood stream to your liver. They are stored here until they are needed for the next meal
There is one specific area of the small bowel which is responsible for absorbing these bile salts. If this area becomes diseased or has been removed at surgery or damaged, for example by radiotherapy, it may not be possible for enough of the bile salts to be absorbed back into your body. If, as a result of failed absorption, too much bile salt reaches your lower intestine (colon), bile salt will cause fluid to be pumped into your colon by your body, which will cause diarrhoea (loose or watery stools).
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IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON BLOOD TESTING DUE TO COVID-19
If you are experiencing symptoms associated with COVID-19, e.g. fever, loss of taste or continuous new cough, please DO NOT attend for a blood test.
Click on the map for information about phlebotomy clinics in Coventry. You can book an appointment online at the locations in red.
Please book an appointment before attending for a blood test. Click on the ‘Book Online’ button above. Booking an appointment helps patients, their carers and family members to plan their hospital visit better, helping to reduce clinic waiting times and enabling patients to be seen much more quickly.
Location: Outpatients Department, on the ground floor. Opening hours: 8am-4.45pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).
Children under 16 years old will need to book online here.
Please book an appointment before attending for a blood test, click on the ‘Book Online’ button above. Patients from Rugby and the surrounding areas are able to access the Friends Blood Taking Unit at the Hospital of St Cross.
Referrals for blood tests can be from GP's, practice nurses or from hospital consultants. Patients are also able to leave other samples, such as urine, which have been collected at home, at the hospital's Pathology Reception.
Location: Near Brookfield House, just off North Road - map here. Opening hours: The blood taking clinic sessions for adults and children are listed below:
Monday -Friday 7am-4:45pm Appointment only
Wednesday Evening 5pm-7pm Suspended due to COVID
Saturday Morning 7am-10pm Suspended due to COVID
April 2020 NEW - This Clinic is now by appointment. Please book an appointment before attending for a blood test. Click on the ‘Book Online’ button above.
Address: Stoney Stanton Road, Coventry CV1 4FS Location: Access is via the main doors, the Phlebotomy team are in Area A. Opening hours: Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). 8am–4.45pm
Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT)
Specialist Tests - There are a small number of specialist tests where blood needs to be taken on a hospital site as the sample must be transferred to the laboratory rapidly for the test to be undertaken. Click here for a list of these specialist tests and to find out more.