Living a Long Life With Diverticulitis. For most people, diverticulitis won't affect their life span. Many people don't even know they have diverticular disease. Only a small percentage will have symptoms, and an even smaller number will have complications.
In about 95 out of 100 people, uncomplicated diverticulitis goes away on its own within a week. In about 5 out of 100 people, the symptoms stay and treatment is needed. Surgery is only rarely necessary.
While the incidence of acute diverticulitis is higher in older individuals, approximately 16% of hospital admissions for acute diverticulitis are in patients under 45 years of age. Up to 50% of patients will experience recurrent bouts of diverticulitis.
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.
The incidence of diverticulitis increases with age. Obesity. Being seriously overweight increases your odds of developing diverticulitis.
Risk factors for diverticulitis include heredity, being age 60 or older, having a BMI over 30, smoking, and regular use of NSAIDs such as aspirin.
Both sexes are equally affected by diverticular disease and diverticulitis, although the condition is more likely to appear at a younger age (under 50) in men than in women. Overall, symptoms of diverticulitis are most likely to occur in people over 70 years old.
The incidence of diverticular disease increases with age (>65% in those >85 years). Most patients with diverticulitis are older than 50 years; the mean age at presentation appears to be about 60 years. However, diverticulitis is increasingly being seen in younger persons.
Diverticulosis is uncommon before age 40, but about one-third of all Americans will develop the condition by age 60, and two-thirds will have it by age 85. That makes diverticulosis one of the most common medical conditions in the United States.
Most of the time, diverticulitis does not require surgery. If mild, the condition can sometimes be treated with medication and dietary changes.
Brock was one of the greats in UFC until it was discovered that he had diverticulitis, an illness that could have taken his life, had he waited much longer for treatment.
Usually, diverticulitis can be resolved with mild treatments, including temporary diet changes and sometimes antibiotics. Most people with diverticulitis recover completely. But, at its most severe, a pouch can burst open, spilling fecal matter directly into a person's bloodstream.
Most people with diverticulitis will not need surgery. The condition can usually be treated with antibiotics, fiber, and probiotics. When these treatments fail to reduce symptoms, doctors may recommend surgical removal of the infected part of the colon.
While previous reports demonstrated a low incidence, between 2% and 5%, in populations younger than 40 years old, this new study found that 54% were younger than 50 years, and 21% were younger than 40 years.
Probiotics combined with mesalazine have also emerged as an alternative potential therapeutic strategy in preventing recurrent attacks of diverticulitis. One series reported that treatment with mesalazine and/or lactobacillus casei induced remission in 88% of their patients at a median follow-up of 2 years.
Diverticula, small pockets that develop in the lining of the colon, are common in adults over the age of 50. As you age, your risk of developing diverticular disease increases even further.
Diverticulitis shouldn't affect your overall life expectancy. Only in the unlikely event of a bowel perforation or a ruptured abscess would you be at risk of life-threatening complications.
Reducing Risk of Recurrence
Many people will not have a recurrence. In one study of 3,165 patients hospitalized for diverticulitis, only 13.3% had a recurrence after 9 years.
Diverticular disease is a common condition with a prevalence that rises with age [1-3]. It affects up to 10% in those aged <40 years and up to 66% in those aged 80 years or older [14]. Acute colonic diverticulitis will develop in 10–25% of those patients with diverticular disease.
The risk of having colorectal cancer after an episode of acute diverticulitis is 44-fold higher than that of an age- and gender-adjusted reference population.
Overall, there were 982 deaths following 134,428 surgical operations for diverticulitis. This yielded a point estimate for mortality of 3.05%, with 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.73–5.32, p < 0.001.
CAUSES. The most commonly accepted theory for the formation of diverticulosis is related to high pressure within the colon, which causes weak areas of the colon wall to bulge out and form the sacs. A diet low in fiber and high in red meat may also play a role.
After adjusting for covariates, having a diagnosis of diverticular disease was associated with a 33% increased risk of overall cancer (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.31 to 1.36). The risk increases also persisted compared with siblings as secondary comparators (HR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.21 to 1.32).
Diverticulitis is often a medical emergency, requiring immediate medical attention and, frequently, admission to hospital. Mild attacks can be treated at home, but should always be assessed promptly. Treatment may include: no eating or drinking – intravenous fluids are given to rest the bowel.