Diverticulosis and Diverticulitis

If you think this is a gross subject, you might want to skip this post. If you are reading along with me, I assume you are interested and can handle "gross" anatomy as it were.

I did some research on the web and found two very informative sites:

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/diverticulosis/

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diverticulitis/DS00070

These two sites have enough information to enable you to diagnose yourself if you have been having chronic pain in your lower left abdomen. Of course, when you go to the doctor, you will get prodded and poked. Then maybe sent to the enema room to get cleaned up before they inspect the inside of your sigmoid colon with a sigmoidscope. They did that to me and said mine looked fine so I suppose what I had was very mild and in order for them to note anything significant, the infection has to be really bad. Or, the doctor had other things on his mind that day - ha.

Next, regardless what Dr. Sigmoid doesn't turn up, you will go for a CT scan. By the way, there is a new medical testing gadget that is sort of like a CT scanner except it makes three dimensional pictures of the colon and intestines. It is called a virtual colonoscophy and has the ability to reveal much more about the intestines than current conventional tests. It is completely non-invasive as far as I know. Maybe after we are all dead and gone it will be the standard procedure available in our community. Anyway, back to the CT scan. It can usually tell them almost anything they want to know about diverticulosis and/or diverticulitis.

In case you may have been wondering what the difference between diverticulosis and diverticulitis is (like I was) you can go to the web sites and/or read on here. First of all, we have to understand that this problem almost exclusively occurs in the sigmoid portion of the colon due to hard stool and the excessive pressure required to pump it out. And apparently it takes 60 years give or take for the disorder to develop into a problem. That is why they recommend you get 25 to 30 grams of fiber EACH DAY (no mean feat let me tell you) to help prevent the problem. Basically you will be munching on fruit and veggies all day to accomplish this goal. I suppose that is why people in Africa and Asia don't have the problem, they munch on fruits and veggies all day. I have found if you skip the TV adds about Metamucil and other fiber supplements which only add a measly 3 grams of fiber at best and move right on to cereals like Fiber One (and a few others) which have about 20 grams of fiber per serving, you will save money and accomplish your goal at the same time without going around all day munching on stuff. Of course if you have developed the munching habit, you could always carry the box of cereal around with you all day. I have found a nice leisurely 45 minutes first thing in the morning with about a cup and a half of cereal in a bowl usually does the trick for the whole day with the added benefit of soft regularity, everything the medical profeddion tells you you need.

But I digress. A diverticulum is a single buldge in the lining of the colon. It looks sort of like a small balloon and is similar to what happens when a bicycle tire gets a hole in it and the inner tube underneath pooches through and makes a small little bubble outside the tire. As you can see, this could be a potentially fatal condition depending on the circumstances. Now if you are quite far along in the disease, you may have several diverticulum which are now referred to as diverticuli because they have progressed into the plural. Therefore, diverticulosis is the state of having diverticuli (or diverticulum as the case might be). Any time you see the ending, "itis," it usually means inflamation and/or swelling. Therefore, diverticulitis is the inflamation of the colon in the area of a diverticulum or several diverticuli usually because they have filled up with bacteria and stuff and become infected. This condition can usually be remedied with several days of antibiotic, bed rest, and a liquid diet (yum!). If the infection is severe, it can result in a tear of the colon which is very serious and requires surgery. If there is a sever infection and the proper attention is not given, this can be a fatal combination.

I was curious, now you know too. Please stay tuned for further developments...