aetiology
Last edited 08/2018 and last reviewed 06/2021
Classically, diverticular disease is believed to occur as a result of deficiency of dietary fibre.
- dietary fiber intake has been shown to be inversely associated with the risk of developing diverticular disease
- however a large cross sectional study failed to link low fiber diet as a risk factor for the development of diverticulosis
- in fact, this study reported that dose dependent high fiber diets were associated with a higher prevalence of diverticulosis
- although dietary fiber may not prevent diverticulosis, it has been shown to play a role in preventing diverticular disease
- a study carried out with 47,033 patients observed that adherence to a vegetarian diet reduced the risk of hospitalisation and death from diverticular disease
Probably aging is as important a factor in the development of diverticular disease.
Other risk factors for diverticulosis include:
- diets high in red meat and fat
- medications – NSAIDs, corticosteroids, opiates
- obesity
- smokers relative to non-smokers (1)
Several protective factors have also been reported:
- vegetarian diets
- increased physical activity
- medications – calcium channel blockers and statins
- higher vitamin D – reduce the risk of hospitalisation for diverticulitis (1)
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