What Are the Symptoms of diverticulitis?
-Severe, cramping abdominal pain that is usually worse on the
left side.
-Nausea.
-Chills or fever.
-Constipation, thin stools, or diarrhea.
-Pain in the lower left quadrant of the abdomen that increases
when the area is touched.
-Rectal bleeding (rare).
Call Your Doctor Immediately If:
-You have a fever, chills, and abdominal swelling, or are
vomiting, or your abdomen becomes rigid and your experience pain
when you move; you could have peritonitis, an infection of the
membrane that lines the abdominal cavity. Get medical help
immediately.
-Blood appears in stools; this indicates internal bleeding.
-You have a fever; you may have an infection that requires
medication.
-Severe pain continues despite treatment; you may have another
abdominal disorder.
PREVENTION
The path to preventing diverticulitis lies in the prevention of
diverticular pouches or sacs. How do you avoid developing
diverticular pouches I hear you say? Well like most digestive
diseases the prevention is primarily about carefully planning
your diet. Western societies our diets are composed of far too
much processed and refined products. The bowel often has great
difficulty in moving these foods through the digestive tract and
the resulting pressure on the colon may generate diverticular
sacs and moreover, diverticulitis. You can visit
http://www.diverticulitis1.com for further information about
prevention. Another issue that diverticulitis sufferers must be
acutely aware of is hydration levels. Digestion of food requires
large amounts of water and peristaltic movement of the intestine
is made particularly difficult when food matter is dry. It is
advisable for adults to drink at least 8 ounces of water per day
and for people with diverticulitis should see this as a minimum.
Another way to improve diet artificially is to use stool
softeners and high-fiber supplements that are available over the
counter. The other thing to do is make sure that you don't
resist the urge to go to the bathroom. More information is
avaialble at
http://www.diverticulosis1.com. Holding it in may
be a large part of your digestive problem and is not a healthy
practice.
All the information provided at
http://www.diverticulitis1.com
is purely for informational purposes and professional medical
consultation should be sought by anyone suspecting a digestive
disease.
About the author:
More information from this author is available at
http://www.diverticulitis.com
