Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
Diverticula usually develop when naturally weak places in your colon give way under pressure. This causes marble-sized pouches to protrude through the colon wall.
Exactly how diverticula become inflamed or infected isn't clear. One theory is that the increased pressure in the colon can lead to breakdown of the wall of the diverticula leading to infection. Another is that the narrow openings of diverticula may trap fecal matter, which can lead to infection. Or, an obstruction in the narrow opening of a diverticulum may reduce blood supply to the area, which leads to inflammation.
In the past, doctors thought that nuts, seeds, popcorn and corn played a role in causing diverticulitis by getting trapped in the diverticula. However, recent research has found that these foods weren't associated with an increased risk of diverticulitis.
- Diverticulosis and diverticulitis. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/diverticulosis. Accessed March 30, 2009.
- McQuaid KR, Gastrointestinal disorders. In: McPhee SJ, et al. Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment 2009. 48th ed. Los Altos, Calif.: Lange Medical Publications; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=6395. Accessed March 30, 2009.
- Diverticulitis. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec02/ch019/ch019c.html. Accessed March 30, 2009.
- Young-Fadok T, et al. Epidemiology and pathophysiology of colonic diverticular disease. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 30, 2009.
- Jacobs DO. Clinical practice: Diverticulitis. New England Journal of Medicine. 2007;357:2057.
- Strate LL, et al. Nut, corn, and popcorn consumption and the incidence of diverticular disease. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2008;300:907.
- Fox JM, et al. Diverticular disease of the colon: Epidemiology. In: Feldman M, et al. Sleisenger & Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, Management. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2006. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/128818258-3/0/1389/861.html?tocnode=51643533&fromURL=861.html#4-u1.0-B1-4160-0245-6..50119-0_5426. Accessed March 30, 2009.
- Fox JM, et al. Diverticular disease of the colon: Etiology. In: Feldman M, et al. Sleisenger & Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, Management. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2006. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/128818258-3/0/1389/863.html?tocnode=51643536&fromURL=863.html#4-u1.0-B1-4160-0245-6..50119-0--cesec3_5429. Accessed March 30, 2009.
- Picco MF (expert review). Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla. March 31, 2009.
