Diverticulitis Causes

In order to fully understand the causes and fully grasp the disorder’s impact, you need to know a little about both the anatomy and the function of the intestines.

Oh, don’t moan like that. This is a painless short lesson that just reviews what you’ve learned in high school. And it won’t take but a moment.

The small intestine is the long, thin portion of the bowel that starts at the stomach and runs to the large intestine or colon. The colon itself starts in the right lower section of the abdomen. It has an unusual shape. Most experts describe its shape as a large question mark that crosses the entire abdomen ending in the rectum.

Right above the rectum, is the sigmoid colon. This particular organ is in the shape of the letter “s”. Liquid stool enters into the right colon. It then passes through the colon, where your body basically dehydrates it so that it can eventually leave your system as a solid.

The sigmoid colon has a very specialized job. It contracts –quite vigorously – to maintain an essential, constant high pressure. This is the action that regulates the movement of the stool into the rectum. You might have already guessed this, but the high pressure of the sigmoid makes it susceptible to the creation of the diverticuli. It is in this portion of your colon that most of the diverticuli develop.

The creation and the projection of the diverticuli mean that the pouches are present – but they are not yet inflamed or infected. It takes a long time for these diverticuli to form. And for the most part they occur most frequently along the natural weak points in the wall of the bowel. The pockets are created due to the natural pressure exerted within the structure by the presence of the contractions themselves.

More about diverticula

But that’s not the end of the story. Once these pouches occur – and they resemble balloon-like projections – the sigmoid may become thicker than normal and also narrower than usual. This naturally brings about some significant changes in the functioning of the bowel. It can result in discomfort, diarrhea or even constipation.

The changes we’re discussing occur very slowly. As we’ve mentioned, only 10 percent of individuals past the age of 40 have the pouches. By the time, persons reach their 60s, though, half of the age group is afflicted with the problem.

Those who take corticosteroids are considered to be at a greater risk than the general population for developing these infections. This class of drugs is known for suppressing the immune system, which is your body’s first line of defense in fighting infections.

Men more often than women must undergo surgery for this condition in the under-50 demographic range by three to one. Among those individuals older than 70 the incidence of infection is found in the female more often than the male by – believe it or not – three to one!

Scientists believe that there may be three vital causes of diverticulosis. The first is age. It appears that the older you are, the greater the chance you have of developing this condition. And they also believe that it is in some fashion related to a low-fiber diet.

A diet lacking in fiber, they explain, can lead to small, hard stools which are difficult to pass. These require an increasing amount of pressure to push them through the large intestine. Given enough time, these contractions of the sigmoid literally push the inner intestinal lining outward.

Interestingly, in the Eastern, Asian parts of the world there exists a version of this disease. Instead of the pouches or sacs developing in the left colon, they develop on the right, on the cecum and ascending colon.

The size of the pouch we’re describing, by the way, isn’t large. Usually it isn’t much larger than a child’s marble.

But they also think that there might be a genetic component at work with this disorder as well. Researchers are still investigating this topic.

What are my chances of developing diverticulitis?

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Three factors may increase your odds of developing diverticulitis.

Your age, as we’ve seen, is probably the most important factor in determining your odds of being burdened with this disease. As we age, it seems increasingly likely that we’ll encounter a case of this disease at least once. Very few individuals younger than 40 develop this problem.

The medical community isn’t certain why this is. They theorize that changes may take place in your colon as you age. Your bowel wall may weaken and lose elasticity as you age.

If you have a history of avoiding fiber, then your chances of developing diverticulitis climbs as well. This factor is based on the increasing incidence of this health problem in relation to the rising amount of processed and packaged foods we eat as a society as a whole.

In countries that still eat high-fiber, natural diets, the incidence of diverticulitis is low. In industrialized societies, like the United Sates, the average diet is heavy on the refined carbohydrates and low – sometimes woefully low – in fiber

Interestingly, public health officials note that diverticular disease seemed to appear after the introduction of the steel-rolling mills in this country. These mills were used to refine grains. Doing that greatly reduce the fiber content of flour and other grains. The first cases of this disease were observed at the turn of the 20^th century – right about the time processed foods were becoming a vital part of the American diet.

Get enough exercise? If you don’t, then you may be putting yourself at a greater risk of developing diverticulitis. A sedentary lifestyle has been associated with this health concern. Medical experts aren’t sure the exact reasons for this connection.

Emotional stress certainly doesn’t cause a case of diverticulitis, but it can cause the spasms of the colon to increase which contributes to the formation of the diverticuli. For this reason, many physicians recommend that, if you’re under stress, methods to help you manage your stress intelligently.