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Diverticulosis

DEFINITION

Diverticulosis is the presence of abnormal outpouchings in the wall of the colon. These outpouchings, called diverticuli, are caused by the weakening of the bowel wall muscles that comes with aging. Often, people do not know that they have these outpouchings until they have an episode of diverticulitis, inflammation of the outpouchng. Being older as well as eating a diet which is low in fiber and high in fat contributes to getting diverticulosis. If you have diverticula, there are things you can do to decrease your risk of diverticulitis, like changing your diet. If you have diverticulosis, you are more likely o get diverticulitis, though it is impossible to tell who will begin to have symptoms like diverticulitis.

SYMPTOMS
Bleeding from the rectum, bloating, cramping, feeling of gas moving in the left lower part of the abdomen, no symptoms at all

DIAGNOSIS
After a history and physical exam, your doctor will likely want to do some other testing to determine what is causing your symptoms. Your doctor may check your blood tests to make sure the organs in your abdomen are working normally. If you don’t have any symptoms, your doctor may not want to do any further testing unless your symptoms begin to bother you. You may have a CT scan of your abdomen done after drinking a sort of dye called contrast which helps illuminate the bowel walls in the pictures taken by the scanner. On these studies, the outpouchings (diverticula) can be seen. Sometimes, your doctor may want you to have a colonoscopy done by a gastroenterologist. A colonoscopy involves placing a thin tube with a camera on the end into the rectum to look at the colon. You are generally under anesthesia for this procedure.

TREATMENT
Diverticulosis doesn’t require any treatment in and of itself but can become diverticulitis, which does require treatment. In order to prevent the further development of diverticuli, your doctor will likely recommend that you increase the fiber and water in your diet. For a long time, doctors were recommending not eating seeds because they might get stuck in pre-existing diverticula, but this has been found to be untrue.

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