Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is It?CausesRisk FactorsSignsDietIs It Hereditary?Causes of Flare-UpsAdditional Risk FactorsPreventionNext in Diverticulitis GuideWhat to Know About Getting a Diverticulitis Diagnosis
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What Is It?
Causes
Risk Factors
Signs
Diet
Is It Hereditary?
Causes of Flare-Ups
Additional Risk Factors
Prevention
Next in Diverticulitis Guide
Diverticulitis can lead to severe infection, bowel blockage, or afistulaif untreated. Decreasing the risk of diverticulosis through lifestyle changes can help prevent diverticulitis.
This article will discuss the causes, symptoms, risk factors, and prevention of diverticulitis.
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What Is Diverticular Disease?
Diverticular disease is the formation of diverticula (pouches or bulges) in the colon. Diverticular disease is often discovered during acolonoscopy, and the diverticula appear as potholes in the intestinal wall. About 50% of people over 60 have diverticular disease; in most cases, it is asymptomatic.Some researchers believe that diverticular disease is linked to a diet low in fiber.
Is Diverticulitis a Serious Condition?
When diverticula becomeinflamedor infected, it is called diverticulitis. Diverticulitis is categorized as either uncomplicated or complicated. If untreated, complicated diverticulitis can lead to severe health conditions and death.
Diverticulitis Causes
Although the exact cause of diverticulitis is not fully understood, experts believe that when the diverticula are obstructed with stool, themucosabecomes inflamed, resulting in microtears, trauma, infection, andischemia(insufficient blood supply to an organ or other area of the body). Complicated diverticulitis occurs in about 12% of people with the condition.
What Is the Main Cause of Diverticulitis?
Many factors can cause diverticulitis. Diet, lifestyle, genetics, andcertain medicationscan affect thegut microbiome(environment of microorganisms within the digestive system), resulting in chronic inflammation and altered colon motility leading to diverticulitis.
Who Is Most at Risk for Diverticulitis?
Other factors that may contribute to the occurrence of diverticulitis are:
What Are the Signs of Diverticulitis?
Symptoms of uncomplicated diverticulitis may be left-sided abdominal pain,constipation, ordiarrhea. Signs of complicated diverticulitis include:
What to Know About Getting a Diverticulitis Diagnosis
Can Diet Trigger Diverticulitis?
Is Diverticulitis Hereditary?
There is growing evidence that diverticulitis could behereditary. Diverticulosis is a precondition to diverticulitis, and even in asymptomatic cases, some people can havechronic inflammationleading to complicated diverticulitis.
The TNFSF15 gene controls inflammation, and mutations of this gene could be responsible forinflammatory bowel disease(IBD) and diverticulitis, especially in people who experience early onset of the disorder.Additionally, mutations in the LAMB4 gene could cause poor colonic motility (passage of waste through the intestines), increasing the risk of diverticulitis.
More research is needed to verify if diverticulitis is hereditary, but evidence shows that environmental and genetic factors cause the disorder.
What Causes Diverticulitis to Flare Up?
About 4% to 10% of people with diverticulosis have what’s known as smoldering diverticulitis. Despite antibiotics, these people have pain,increased white blood cell (WBC) counts, fever, and evidence of diverticulitis on a computed tomography (CT) scan. Additionally, the following are percentage rates for diverticulitis flare-ups:
Contributing factors fordiverticulitis flare-upsare:
Although some people will experience flare-ups, complications from diverticulitis (perforation, for example) occur more often during the first episode than in subsequent episodes.
Additional Risk Factors for Diverticulitis
Lifestyle plays a role in the development of diverticulitis. The following are modifiable lifestyle factors that contribute to diverticulitis:
Although more research is needed,statins(cholesterol-lowering drugs),metformin(an antidiabetic medicine), andcalcium channel blockers(blood pressure–lowering drugs) may decrease the risk of diverticulitis.
Prevention Tips for Diverticulitis
If you’ve been diagnosed with diverticular disease, the following tips could help prevent diverticulitis:
Diverticulitis: Foods to Avoid
Summary
Diverticulitis is the inflammation or infection of the diverticula, small pouches in the colon from diverticular disease. Complicated diverticulitis can result in severe medical conditions. If left untreated, it can be fatal. Although the cause is not fully understood, environmental and genetic factors influence the prevalence of diverticulitis.
Living a healthy lifestyle is one way to prevent diverticulitis. If you’ve been diagnosed with diverticular disease, inform a healthcare provider of any new abdominal pain, fever, chills, or blood in your stool.
9 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Hawkins AT, Wise PE, Chan T, et al.Diverticulitis: An update from the age old paradigm.Curr Probl Surg. 2020;57(10):100862. doi:10.1016/j.cpsurg.2020.100862MedlinePlus.Diverticulosis and diverticulitis.American College of Gastroenterology.Diverticulosis and diverticulitis.Barbaro MR, Cremon C, Fuschi D, Marasco G, Palombo M, Stanghellini V, Barbara G.Pathophysiology of diverticular disease: From diverticula formation to symptom generation.International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2022; 23(12):6698. doi:10.3390/ijms23126698Strate LL, Morris AM.Epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of diverticulitis.Gastroenterology. 2019;156(5):1282-1298.e1. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2018.12.033Rezapour M, Ali S, Stollman N.Diverticular disease: An update on pathogenesis and management.Gut Liver. 2018;12(2):125-132. doi:10.5009/gnl16552Miulescu AM.Colonic diverticulosis. Is there a genetic component?Maedica (Bucur). 2020;15(1):105-110. doi:10.26574/maedica.2020.15.1.105Coble JL, Sheldon KE, Yue F, et al.Identification of a rare LAMB4 variant associated with familial diverticulitis through exome sequencing.Human Molecular Genetics. doi:10.1093/hmg/ddx204National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Diverticular disease.
9 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Hawkins AT, Wise PE, Chan T, et al.Diverticulitis: An update from the age old paradigm.Curr Probl Surg. 2020;57(10):100862. doi:10.1016/j.cpsurg.2020.100862MedlinePlus.Diverticulosis and diverticulitis.American College of Gastroenterology.Diverticulosis and diverticulitis.Barbaro MR, Cremon C, Fuschi D, Marasco G, Palombo M, Stanghellini V, Barbara G.Pathophysiology of diverticular disease: From diverticula formation to symptom generation.International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2022; 23(12):6698. doi:10.3390/ijms23126698Strate LL, Morris AM.Epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of diverticulitis.Gastroenterology. 2019;156(5):1282-1298.e1. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2018.12.033Rezapour M, Ali S, Stollman N.Diverticular disease: An update on pathogenesis and management.Gut Liver. 2018;12(2):125-132. doi:10.5009/gnl16552Miulescu AM.Colonic diverticulosis. Is there a genetic component?Maedica (Bucur). 2020;15(1):105-110. doi:10.26574/maedica.2020.15.1.105Coble JL, Sheldon KE, Yue F, et al.Identification of a rare LAMB4 variant associated with familial diverticulitis through exome sequencing.Human Molecular Genetics. doi:10.1093/hmg/ddx204National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Diverticular disease.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Hawkins AT, Wise PE, Chan T, et al.Diverticulitis: An update from the age old paradigm.Curr Probl Surg. 2020;57(10):100862. doi:10.1016/j.cpsurg.2020.100862MedlinePlus.Diverticulosis and diverticulitis.American College of Gastroenterology.Diverticulosis and diverticulitis.Barbaro MR, Cremon C, Fuschi D, Marasco G, Palombo M, Stanghellini V, Barbara G.Pathophysiology of diverticular disease: From diverticula formation to symptom generation.International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2022; 23(12):6698. doi:10.3390/ijms23126698Strate LL, Morris AM.Epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of diverticulitis.Gastroenterology. 2019;156(5):1282-1298.e1. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2018.12.033Rezapour M, Ali S, Stollman N.Diverticular disease: An update on pathogenesis and management.Gut Liver. 2018;12(2):125-132. doi:10.5009/gnl16552Miulescu AM.Colonic diverticulosis. Is there a genetic component?Maedica (Bucur). 2020;15(1):105-110. doi:10.26574/maedica.2020.15.1.105Coble JL, Sheldon KE, Yue F, et al.Identification of a rare LAMB4 variant associated with familial diverticulitis through exome sequencing.Human Molecular Genetics. doi:10.1093/hmg/ddx204National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Diverticular disease.
Hawkins AT, Wise PE, Chan T, et al.Diverticulitis: An update from the age old paradigm.Curr Probl Surg. 2020;57(10):100862. doi:10.1016/j.cpsurg.2020.100862
MedlinePlus.Diverticulosis and diverticulitis.
American College of Gastroenterology.Diverticulosis and diverticulitis.
Barbaro MR, Cremon C, Fuschi D, Marasco G, Palombo M, Stanghellini V, Barbara G.Pathophysiology of diverticular disease: From diverticula formation to symptom generation.International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2022; 23(12):6698. doi:10.3390/ijms23126698
Strate LL, Morris AM.Epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of diverticulitis.Gastroenterology. 2019;156(5):1282-1298.e1. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2018.12.033
Rezapour M, Ali S, Stollman N.Diverticular disease: An update on pathogenesis and management.Gut Liver. 2018;12(2):125-132. doi:10.5009/gnl16552
Miulescu AM.Colonic diverticulosis. Is there a genetic component?Maedica (Bucur). 2020;15(1):105-110. doi:10.26574/maedica.2020.15.1.105
Coble JL, Sheldon KE, Yue F, et al.Identification of a rare LAMB4 variant associated with familial diverticulitis through exome sequencing.Human Molecular Genetics. doi:10.1093/hmg/ddx204
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.Diverticular disease.
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