Coping with Diverticulitis: Soothe and Heal Your Gut

by Peter Cartwright

'A major step in patient education and participation in the management of diverticulitis' - Professor Frank A. Frizelle


Diverticular disease (DD) is a digestive disorder caused by enflamed diverticula, or pouches, in the colon. A common cause is constipation due to lack of fibre in the diet. Diverticulitis is very common, with about 60,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the UK and 300,000 in the USA. Symptoms are usually persistent abdominal pain plus disturbed bowel function (constipation or diarrhoea or alternating between the two). Diverticulitis sometimes becomes very severe leading to perforation of the bowel, forming an abscess or rarely peritonitis. This best-selling book looks at the treatment and self-management of DD - while the doctor can help, particularly with antibiotics, much can be done by the individual to minimise the effects of this condition.

Topics include:
The medical treatment of diverticular disease
Probiotics ('good' or 'friendly' live bacteria and yeasts said to be good for digestive health
The increase of diverticular disease in the population
Effects of diverticular disease

127 pages, Paperback

First published May 18, 2007

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good basic information and gives a good understanding

[Buzz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book which I found at the library. I have found it to be an excellent primer on diverticular disease. Detailed yet accessible, this slim book has provided answers to most questions. It _doesn't_ contain heaps of recipes, diet plans etc if that's what you're after but does provide solid research-based information based from UK, US, Africa and Far East and compares various medical hypotheses.