Posts Tagged ‘Complications’

Diverticular Disease: Progression, Smoking and Nicotine

Sunday, April 14th, 2019

 

Diverticular disease (DD) can progress from changes in the gut nerves and muscles to formation of diverticula (diverticulosis), to symptoms of colon dysfunction, to infections and inflammation (diverticulitis), to chronic symptoms, and to serious abdominal complications. The number of sufferers along this pathway diminishes greatly at every stage, only a minority ever need surgical treatment. On the other hand, progression and ageing go hand in hand.

The causes and risk factors of progression after diverticulosis are as varied as the people with DD.  Nobody knows what brings on diverticulitis which can be a gateway to problems. Historically, a diet low in fibre was thought to be responsible for all of the disease spectrum and could be easily remedied. This is no longer accepted. In the second half of the 20th century nobody considered an effect of smoking on the gut. Most Western adults smoked despite the risks of lung cancer and heart disease. Cigarettes had calmed the soldiers of the war, they were glamorous and macho, and nicotine was strongly addictive.

Cigarette use was aligned much closer to the appearance of DD in the world than diets which were variable and often assumed. Articles on this website in 2012 and 2013 have details of this epidemiology and also explain the pharmacology of nicotine where chronic use can cause the damage to the colon characteristic of DD.

(more…)

Cigarette Smoking: The Cause Of Diverticular Disease?

Wednesday, June 19th, 2013

Two previous articles relate to this theory of the cause of diverticular disease (DD). “Colon wall muscles in diverticular disease” and “Diverticular disease: updated epidemiology” can be found on this website. Because of the length of this article, many details with supporting references have not been included and a summary is provided.

 

SUMMARY

The worldwide epidemiology of diverticular disease (DD) is the same as that of the smoking epidemic used by many organisations and charities to show the relationship between smoking and lung cancer and many Western diseases. The grouping of countries by the timing and extent of DD correspond historically with the introduction of “Western” cigarettes. The types of tobacco and additives in the Western products and their promotion are related to the pattern of disease and they are designed to deliver the maximum amount of nicotine into the body. The changes in the colon wall with DD reflect the pharmacological action of nicotine in the chronic dosing produced by cigarette smoking. Ethnic differences in the metabolism of nicotine and different sensitivity in longitudinal and circular colon wall muscles could explain differences in the sites of disease particularly between Eastern and Western countries. Changes in the colon wall structure with DD are similar to those found in blood vessels caused by smoking. Such changes are found in the lungs of children subjected to passive smoking. Could DD also start this early in life?

THE CAUSE OF DIVERTICULAR DISEASE

There is a plethora of reports of research and opinions on what might be the cause of diverticular disease (DD). Research is often carried out in the hospital situation where the diagnosis of diverticulosis, diverticulitis or the treatment of complications takes place. Patients can then be surveyed to find out why they came to be in that situation. This tends to result in the cause of symptoms being blamed for the disease which is not the same as why or when the disease started in the first place. The formation of diverticula, the basis of diagnosis, is a later stage in its progression.

(more…)