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mild diverticulosis
Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:43 am
by Guest Posts
My octogenarian mother has mild diverticulosis, mostly kept under control by using lactose-free milk and a diet with good amounts of fibre (she has not been prescribed medication). However, she still gets mild discomfort every couple of weeks, and once a month has a bad attack of diarrhoea. Is there anything else we could do to keep her comfortable?
Kind regards,
Emma
Re: mild diverticulosis
Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2020 11:12 pm
by Dr Jamal Hayat
Hi,
Diverticular disease is extremely common and more frequent the older you get, in fact over half of individuals over the age of 80 will have some evidence of diverticulosis. It can give problems such as pain, altered bowel habit, rectal bleeding and a fever if there is associated diverticulitis(inflammation of the diverticula). However they can(and often are) completely asymptomatic. Your mum's symptoms may not be due to the diverticula. She may have a lactose intolerance which is why she feels better with a lactose free milk, and I am pleased to hear that she finds benefit from good amounts of fibre in her diet. In this regard, she may benefit from optimising her diet further. Anti-spasmodic medications such as mebeverine or buscopan can be bought over the counter and may be useful when she gets discomfort, in addition to modifying her diet further to prevent these episodes. The are a number of reasons why she may be having the monthly episodes of diarrhoea, and in this regard she may benefit from discussing with a GP or specialist in more detail.
Kind Regards,
Jamal Hayat