The average American consumes only 11 grams of the 25 to 30 grams of fiber recommended daily. Increasing fiber in our diet is fairly easy to do. Start by choosing Diverticulitis Foods whole-grain cereals and breads. Eat whole fruits instead of juices, and increase the amount of vegetables in your diet. Eat the peel on the fruits and vegetables you can tolerate. Leave the skin on potatoes when making mashed potatoes. Avoid processed foods. When having rice with dinner, choose whole-grain brown rice in lieu of the prepared Rice-a-Roni or Minute variety.

Analyze recipes for ways to increase the fiber. For example, instead of bread crumbs in meatloaf, use uncooked oats. While each change may only make the difference of a gram or two of fiber, by the end of the day you may reach your goal of 25 to 30 grams. In addition to decreasing your risk of diverticulitis, you’ll be reducing your risk of some types of cancer, heart disease and diabetes as well.

Diverticulosis of the colon is an acquired condition thought to occur as a result of disordered colonic peristalsis, leading to areas of high intra-luminal pressure that push the mucosa out through the submucosa and muscularis of the colon. This occurs at the relatively weak points at the site of entry of blood vessels through the circular muscle.

Disordered peristalsis probably results from the frequent passage of low-volume, low-residue stools. Both the circular and longitudinal muscle are characteristically hypertrophied, leading to thickening and shortening of the colon. Diverticulae and muscular hypertrophy are most commonly seen in the sigmoid colon but any part, or all of the colon may be affected.

The term diverticulosis simply describes the presence of diverticulae and no symptoms need be present. Diverticulitis describes the clinico- pathological condition associated with inflammation of diverticulae. Diverticular disease is an all-encompassing description applicable to diverticulosis and its complications.

Diverticulosis is uncommon in patients under 30 years of age, but its prevalence increases with age and by the age of 50 years up to 30 per cent of the population will have diverticulae in their colon. Men and women are equally affected.

Only 20 per cent of those with diverticulosis will ultimately develop symptoms. Diverticulosis is a ‘disease’ of Western populations, its development being strongly associated with an inadequate dietary fiber intake - it is less commonly seen in vegetarians, and is rare among rural Africans.

It is thought that environmental factors, particularly diet, play an important role in pathogenesis, although unknown genetic factors may be implicated in some individuals who develop diverticulae at a young age or who have predominantly right-sided disease.

Most patients with diverticulosis will remain asymptomatic. Patients with uncomplicated diverticular disease may present with an altered bowel habit, often associated with colicky abdominal pain, flatulence and distension. These symptoms may be indistinguishable from the irritable bowel syndrome.

Acute diverticulitis is characterized by left iliac fossa pain and is usually associated with features of acute inflammation: tachycardia, pyrexia, localized peritonism and a leucocytosis. Acute diverticulitis may be complicated by localized abscess formation resulting from a perforation of an inflamed diverticulum. Such patients may present with swinging pyrexia and a tender mass.

Tags: acute diverticulitis

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