What are diverticuli, diverticulosis and diverticulitis?
Diverticuli are tiny pockets of weakness in the wall of the large intestine. When a person has diverticuli, this condition is diverticulosis. A third of the people over age 50 in the United States have it. Some have just a few diverticuli, while others may have 20 or more, but most people have no symptoms and only find out that they have diverticulosis when they have a colonoscopy. Person with diverticulosis may get diverticulitis when stool is caught in one or more of these pockets, and they become inflamed or infected. This typically causes fever, pain and tenderness in the abdomen, bleeding and infection as major signs of a diverticular disease. Diverticulitis usually clears up within a week with antibiotics and a liquid or soft diet. This specific soft diet includes anything that does not require a lot of chewing: soup, mashed potatoes, cooked or pureed vegetables, bananas, Jell-O and pudding fit this category. After the acute infection clears up, patients should stay on a high-fib
