Gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is usually categorized as either melena or hematochezia. Melena refers to black stools, while hematochezia refers to fresh, red blood in your stool. This blood might be ...

Both conditions involve symptoms of gastrointestinal bleeding, though a major difference is that hematochezia often presents as bright red blood in the stool, while melena appears as black, tarry ...

Hard stools are a common occurrence. They occur when stools pass through the colon too slowly, allowing the colon time to absorb too much water from the stool. The stools then become hard and dry.