About Diverticular Disease :
It's common for people older than age 60 to have small, bulging pouches (diverticula) in their digestive tracts - a condition known as diverticulosis. Although diverticula can form anywhere, including in your esophagus, stomach and small intestine, most occur in your large intestine. Because these pouches seldom cause any problems, you may never know you have them.

Sometimes, however, one or more pouches becomes inflamed or infected, causing severe abdominal pain, fever, nausea and a marked change in your bowel habits. When diverticula become infected, the condition is called diverticulitis. Mild cases of diverticulitis can be treated with rest, changes in your diet and antibiotics. But serious cases may require surgery to remove the diseased portion of your colon.
Fortunately, most people with diverticulosis never develop diverticulitis. Best of all, you can help prevent both types of diverticular disease by including more high-fiber foods in your diet.


What Causes Diverticular Disease?
Doctors believe a low-fiber diet is the main cause of diverticular disease. The disease was first noticed in the United States in the early 1900's. At about the same time, processed foods were introduced to the American diet. Many processed foods contain refined, low-fiber flour. Unlike whole-wheat flour, refined flour has no wheat bran.

Diverticular disease is common in developed or industrialized countries--particularly the United States, England, and Australia--where low-fiber diets are common. The disease is rare in countries of Asia and Africa, where people eat high-fiber vegetable diets.

Fiber is the part of fruits, vegetables, and grains that the body cannot digest. Some fiber dissolves easily in water (soluble fiber). It takes on a soft, jelly-like texture in the intestines. Some fiber passes almost unchanged through the intestines (insoluble fiber). Both kinds of fiber help make stools soft and easy to pass. Fiber also prevents constipation.

Constipation makes the muscles strain to move stool that is too hard. It is the main cause of increased pressure in the colon. The excess pressure causes the weak spots in the colon to bulge out and become diverticula.

Diverticulitis occurs when diverticula become infected or inflamed. Doctors are not certain what causes the infection. It may begin when stool or bacteria are caught in the diverticula. An attack of diverticulitis can develop suddenly and without warning.


What are the Symptoms of Diverticular Disease?

The most common symptom of diverticulitis is abdominal pain. The most common sign is tenderness around the left side of the lower abdomen. If infection is the cause, fever, nausea, vomiting, chills, cramping, and constipation may occur as well. The severity of symptoms depends on the extent of the infection and complications.

How is Diverticulitis Diagnosed?
Diverticulitis is suspected after a history and physical examination. Tightness of the abdominal muscles suggests serious infection. You may have a complete blood count (CBC) to find out whether you have an infection, which can occur with diverticulitis, or whether you have too few red blood cells in your blood, possibly because of bleeding in your colon. The white blood cell count is often elevated. Other tests that may be done include imaging studies such as computed tomography (CT) scan, barium enema X-ray, abdominal ultrasound, flexible sigmoidoscopy, or colonoscopy. Diverticulitis can range from minor inflammation to a massive infection.

Can Diverticulitis be treated?
Treatment for diverticulitis usually involves resting the bowel with a liquid diet. After the infection goes away, you can return to a solid-food diet and then can gradually increase the amount of fiber you eat. As noted, fiber, bran and roughage should be an important part of the diet. Certain types of fiber, such as wheat bran retain large quantities of water. Bran and fiber can be found in very palatable forms in many cereals, breads and other foods. This, in turn, provides a bulkier stool. This type of large, soft stool may help decrease the pressure in the bowel over time. Drinking plenty of water, and exercising regularly may help prevent the formation of diverticula and attacks of diverticulitis.
It is known that emotional stress can increase spasms of the colon and, perhaps, result in the formation of diverticuli. Stress should be controlled and treated as much as possible.



This is the recommended diet :

" enriched refined white bread, buns, bagels, english muffins
" plain cereals e.g. Cheerios, Cornflakes, Cream of Wheat, Rice Krispies, Special K
" arrowroot cookies, tea biscuits, soda crackers, plain melba toast
" white rice, refined pasta and noodles
" avoid whole grains
" fruit juices except prune juice
" applesauce, apricots, banana (1/2), cantaloupe, canned fruit cocktail, grapes, honeydew melon, peaches, watermelon
" avoid raw and dried fruits, raisins and berries.
" vegetable juices
" potatoes (no skin)
" alfalfa sprouts, beets, green/yellow beans, carrots, celery, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, mushrooms, green/red peppers, potatoes (peeled), squash, zucchini
" avoid vegetables from the cruciferous family such as broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, Swiss chard etc
" well-cooked, tender meat, fish and eggs
" avoid beans and lentils
" Avoid all nuts and seeds, as well as foods that may contain seeds (such as yogurt)
" as directed by your healthcare providers
 

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