What is Diverticulosis

Most people with diverticulosis do not have any discomfort or symptoms. However, symptoms may include mild cramps, bloating, and constipation. Other diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and stomach ulcers cause similar problems, so these symptoms do not always mean a person has diverticulosis. You should visit your doctor if you have these troubling symptoms.

Diverticuli are tiny "pockets" of weakness in the wall of the large intestine. This condition is called diverticulosis, and a third of the people over age 50 in the United States have it. Some have just a few diverticuli, while others may have 20 or more. Most people have no symptoms and only find out that they have diverticulosis when they have a colonoscopy.

Diverticulitis is infection/inflammation of the diverticuli. In other words, a person with diverticulosis may get diverticulitis when stool gets caught in one or more of these "pockets," and they become inflamed or infected. This typically causes fever, pain and tenderness in the abdomen. The two major signs of diverticular disease are bleeding and infection.

Diverticulitis usually clears up within a week with antibiotics and a liquid or soft diet. (A soft diet includes anything that does not require a lot of chewing: soup, mashed potatoes, cooked or pureed vegetables, bananas, Jell-O and pudding fit this category.) After the acute infection clears up, patients should eat a high-fiber diet including nuts, seeds, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. They should drink plenty of fluids and avoid constipation at all costs, even if that requires taking Metamucil (psyllium seed) or other fiber products daily. Hard stools or straining will cause more diverticuli to appear or the existing ones to enlarge.


What Causes Diverticulosis

A low-fiber diet is considered to be the main cause of diverticular problems. First diagnosed in the United States in the early 1900s, and now common throughout developed countries, the emergence of diverticular disease coincided with the introduction of low-fiber processed foods (eg. branless refined flour). Even now, the disease is rare in Asia and Africa, where people eat high-fiber vegetable diets.

How is Diverticulosis Diagnosed?
The symptoms of diverticular disease are similar to other diseases, including irritable bowel syndrome, stomach ulcers, acute appendicitis, Crohn's disease, bladder infection, kidney stones, colitis, or tumors of the ovary or colon. Diverticulosis is suspected when symptoms such as unexplained painful cramps, diarrhea or other bowel movement disturbances, or rectal bleeding are present. Diverticulosis 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.

Can Diverticulosis be treated?
Treatment for diverticular disease 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.

Food and Diverticulosis
The principal dietary approach to the prevention and relief of diverticulosis is the consumption of a high-fiber diet. This has specific health benefits for all diverticular conditions, including diverticulitis. A high-fiber diet along will relieve symptoms in most cases.

Some high fiber fruits are:
Apples Mangos
Oranges Peaches
Pears Dried Figs
Some high fiber Vegetables are:
Asparagus Broccoli
Brussels sprouts Cabbage
Carrots Cauliflower
Peas Potato
Romaine lettuce Spinach
Summer squash Tomato
Some high fiber Grains are:
All Bran Bread, whole-wheat
Brown rice Cereal, bran flake
Oatmeal White rice

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