Posts Tagged ‘Symptoms’

Diverticular Disease: Treatments After a Century

Saturday, July 25th, 2020

THE BEGINNING

Diverticula on the colon were a curiosity until increasing reports lead to official recording of deaths in 1923. This newly discovered disease of the elderly was only seen by surgeons trying to alleviate pain or correct the complications due to infection. Some pathologists were also interested in this phenomenon they found during postmortems. They did not know the patient’s problems which had preceded the serious condition, but their observations gave insight into how diverticula were formed.

Thickened wall muscles, concertina-like shortening of the sigmoid colon and narrowing of the lumen were the precursors of the appearance of diverticula. They did not know why this had happened but they did find that the damaged colon could give rise to pain needing surgery just as severe as the result of complications. The diverticula contained hard pellets of faeces (faecoliths) which could have been responsible for the pain and infection. Their observations appropriately led to recommendations for a diet, not necessarily low fibre, but a “softage” diet without pips, seeds or hard roughage. Only 20% of these patients were constipated.

WORLD WARS

With the advent of radiology, diverticula on the sigmoid colon (diverticulosis) were found in increasing numbers of people in the period between the two wars. There was speculation about the cause but no research was done. Advances in anaesthetics, blood transfusions and antibiotics made surgery safer. After WWII elective surgery was available to 10-20% of patients to remove the affected colon part to avoid future serious complications. How these patients were selected has not been reported. Risk/benefit considerations over the years have seen surgery more used as a treatment rather than a prophylactic.

How fortunate I am having the opportunity of having this operation while I am fit and healthy”

     “I have seen many doctors and they all refuse me an operation so I am left suffering constant pain and discomfort every day”

In the UK deaths from diverticular disease (DD) increased up to 1939 then the rate was static until the 1950s. There was loss of interest in DD. This pause in mortality was later taken as evidence that the wartime diet in the UK, presumed to have more fibre, would prevent the diseases of the western world including DD. It was in fact due to the recording of deaths of civilians only. In the 1950s DD was beginning to be noticed again. The NHS was in its infancy. People resorted to herbal and traditional medicines. Laxatives were big business, people with or without DD were trying to conform to the daily toileting ideal of that era.

—it was in 1948 when I first had stomach problems, and our dear old doctor, that we had then, explained to me why I was getting pain and wind, and on occasions blood, these were his words. Once when you were a little girl you ate too much, and your stomach couldn’t take all the food at once, so a part of it stretched a bit like a balloon and now you have a sort of pouch there which sometimes gets a bit packed out with food and causes all your problems, nothing can be done about this, so you must just be careful what you eat.”

     “I was told that I was part of a whole generation brought up during the war with a weekly purging of Syrup of Figs on a Saturday night therefore making a lazy bowel” 

WESTERN DISEASES

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Diverticulitis: a wind of change

Sunday, December 2nd, 2012

There have been many changes over the years in the approach to diverticular disease (DD), even in the names used. Diverticular disease is the overall name. The presence of the grape-like diverticula on the outside of the colon results in a diagnosis of diverticulosis. Diverticulitis occurs when there is infection and inflammation of the diverticula but is often used when there are any symptoms caused by the disease.

Diverticulosis can have episodes of diverticulitis or complicated diverticulitis when problems such as bleeding, abscess, fistula or blockage need surgical treatment. This is a simplistic explanation of what might happen in DD in decreasing numbers, so that only a small fraction of people with DD ever need surgery. Any progression in the disease can stop and revert to symptomless diverticulosis at any time, some people with diverticulosis do not even know that they have it.

There has been confusion over many years about the symptoms with DD. (more…)

Is diverticular disease making you housebound?

Monday, November 14th, 2011

THE PROBLEM

DD affects people in many different ways, some have few or no symptoms and their lifestyle is unaffected. Others are simply too ill to even think about leaving their home. These extremes can be a permanent or temporary situation for many sufferers. Older, retired people with DD sometimes have a different problem. An organiser of outings for an over-60s club said that people with DD could not go on their trips because they dare not go away from a toilet. That was 3 decades ago and not much has changed since then. Some coaches now have on-board toilets but public transport and car journeys also present problems. Apprehension and nervousness before a holiday, meal or outing, even a pleasurable one, sends their guts into overdrive. There is no mention of this problem in medical or self-help books or websites. It is not a topic of conversation even with close relatives and comedian’s jokes do not help. (more…)

How many people have diverticular disease and symptoms

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011

Nearly every review of diverticular disease (DD) and some research papers begin with statistics about how many people have DD at different ages. Figures regularly quoted for Western countries are 5% of the population by the age of 40, 25% by the age of 60 and 65% at 85 years. Variations are also described such as 50% of the population over 60 years, or 1/3 to 1/2 of the population will get the disease. In England and Wales this works out at over 5 million people which would rise with the aging population.

Trying to find the sources of these figures (more…)

Diverticular Disease in Healthcare Systems, part 2, community

Monday, December 6th, 2010

 The impact of diverticular disease (DD) in the hospital situation was discussed in the Winter 2006/2007 issue of the magazine. This area is well researched to update and optimise the diagnosis of DD and the expert treatment of complications on an individual basis. This research also shows that DD is an increasing burden on hospitals in terms of number of admissions and costs. Better management in the community is critical in reducing this burden. Prevention of complications of DD would benefit both NHS budgets and patients. (more…)

Diverticular Disease in Healthcare Systems, part 1 hospitals

Monday, December 6th, 2010

Diverticular disease (DD) is not the sort of complaint where a distinct diagnosis is obvious without investigation. Nor is there a well established treatment regime which prevents or slows down a foreseeable progression. DD is not predictable in its effects, it may or may not progress and there is no treatment which is universally successful. The place of DD in the healthcare system is not clear-cut. (more…)

The water we drink

Thursday, October 28th, 2010

 

Seasoned British travellers are well aware that 30 to 50 % of their visits to developing countries and popular holiday areas are estimated to result in traveller’s diarrhoea. Known as Montezumas revenge, delhybelly etc, the episodes usually last no more than 2 or 3 days but can extend to weeks or months of illness. People from the UK have a higher incidence of diarrhoea than those travelling from other industrial nations. Toxin – producing strains of E. coli are the most common cause, contaminated food and water pass them into the gut and diarrhoea is the body’s response to get rid of the invading organism. Adults in areas of poor sanitation and hygiene develop resistance to such organisms, having survived their effects in childhood. This resistance persists on moving to another developing country. A study of expatriates in Nepal found that the incidence of diarrhoea began to fall after 3 months residence. (1) The body reacts to unfamiliar bacteria as well as those causing infection. Traveller’s diarrhoea can have a long term effect on the bowel (2) and may account for 1 in 10 cases of IBS. (3) The pockets in the colon with DD are an ideal breeding ground for bacteria, can traveller’s diarrhoea cause diverticulitis? (more…)

Migraine, the gut and diverticular disease

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

MIGRAINE AND GUT MALFUNCTION

What has migraine got to do with diverticular disease?”

That was the occasional response when DD sufferers were asked in a survey if they or any blood relative have/did have migraine. However, 42% of females and 29% of males had migraine themselves or a blood relative did. Some noted that they ‘used to have’ migraine. These figures are far higher than the 10% or so incidence of migraine expected at retirement ages. A survey of migraine sufferers in Ireland found that 51% had also been diagnosed with IBS. A survey of people with IBS found a 60% greater prevalence of migraine than in non-IBS controls (1). There was a frequent association between headache, including migraine, and gastrointestinal symptoms (acid reflux, diarrhoea, constipation and nausea) in a Norwegian report (2).

Patients who did not respond to a high fibre diet, who had a single, intermittent abdominal pain were investigated in Leeds (3). Symptoms and family history suggested that 49% of them might have abdominal migraine and 32% of these had typical migraine symptoms during the attack. Mulak (4) noted that migraine and IBS often coexist. (more…)

Pain with diverticular disease

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

In 2001, 230 members of a previous organisation for DD sufferers (NADD) completed a questionnaire about their symptoms. The results are shown in Table 1. (more…)

All in a name – medical terms

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

 

Diverticular disease is an umbrella term which covers the physical changes in the colon wall and the effects from diagnosis to life-threatening complications and all the different symptoms which result from the disease. The muscular deformity with the characteristic bulging hernia or pouches called diverticula is known as diverticulosis. This definition is of a visible physical abnormality and does not indicate the extent of damage to the colon or describe its effects. Some people do not know that they have diverticulosis but after diagnosis about ¾ of patients have some type of symptoms. (more…)