Diverticula, how to distinguish them from irritable colon (and feel better) – breaking latest news

It is perhaps one of the most democratic symptoms there are: who has never had a stomach ache at least once? Meanwhile, it must be remembered that the intestine is very affected by stress and lifestyle, so the irritability of this organ must always be considered in a general context. In fact, the presence of diverticula is a very frequent condition in the population, especially the elderly (over 70 percent of the seventy-year-olds have them, for example), fortunately in most cases it does not cause problems but for 20 percent of people, however, it becomes a constant problem, such as to greatly affect the quality of life. How to understand what causes it and, above all, how to solve it? We talked about this issue at Time of Health with Giovanni Barbara, professor of internal medicine at the University of Bologna, e Antonio Gasbarrini, director of the Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, IRCCS Gemelli University Polyclinic Foundation, Rome.

I sintomi

The first step is to diagnose the disorder, which often has symptoms similar to other gastrointestinal problems. Irritable bowel disorders most frequently affect the population between the ages of 20 and 50, while diverticula are more likely later on. “The symptoms of diverticula and irritable bowel are similar: stomach pain, bloating, changes in bowel activity are common to both problems. The localization of the pain may be a little different, more intense and persistent in the case of diverticulosis, but for a differential diagnosis it is important to contact the gastroenterologist ”, noted Giovanni Barbara.
Diverticula are in fact a simple alteration of the anatomy of the intestine, small “pockets” of the intestinal wall: they do not necessarily give symptoms, when this happens they pass to the stage of diverticular disease and if they become inflamed, it is called diverticulitis, a problem which however concerns a small percentage of patients. The goal is not to get to this point, because when the small sacs become inflamed you can have fever, intestinal difficulties and a much more intense and persistent pain, such as to require the intervention of the doctor also to avoid more serious consequences. , from intestinal obstruction to perforation of the diverticula themselves. One of the most complex cases is acute diverticulitis, which can generate abscesses and fistulas, an infection that requires targeted therapeutic interventions up to surgery, which is being used less and less frequently today.

How to intervene

When a symptomatic episode of diverticula has occurred, it is useful to “clean” the intestine with a specific antibiotic therapy to prevent inflammation from increasing, also evaluating whether maintenance treatment with drug courses to be repeated periodically is necessary. These can sometimes also be useful in the case of irritable colon where, as Antonio Gasbarrini added, “It is also very important to evaluate a change in diet to influence the population of the intestinal bacterial flora: dysbiosis, or the alteration of the bacterial flora, is a common trait in irritable bowel syndrome and diverticular disease, therefore in both cases it is necessary to “rebuild” a good bacterial flora by choosing a diet rich in fiber and low in fat, which selects the positive species, and if necessary also through cycles of specific antibiotics, in cases identified by the gastroenterologist ».