What treatments can you recommend for diverticular disease?
I have had conflicting advice. One expert put me on a high-fibre diet, but a nutritionist said I should limit the amount of fibre in my diet, but increase my fluid intake. The main symptoms that I get are griping pains in the left side of my abdomen. A memorable experience of my medical training was at the bedside of a patient with diverticular disease. He was about to be discharged after a particularly nasty attack of diverticulitis. The senior registrar solemnly advised the patient to eat plenty of high-fibre foods – porridge, fresh vegetables, potato skins and the like. The patient turned to the doctor and told him that 20 years previously (at the time of his first attack of diverticulitis), another doctor had solemnly stood by his bedside and advised him to stop eating things like porridge, fresh vegetables and potato skins. He had religiously followed this advice for 20 years, and he still found himself in hospital with diverticulitis. The evidence is that high-fibre diets may pre
