Diverticulosis (the presence of pea-sized diverticula, or pockets, in the lining of the bowel) is common and quite harmless. It affects about 10-percent of the world’s population by the time they reach 50-years of age, and approximately 50-percent by the time they reach 80-years-old. The good news is that for most it will stop there and no further symptoms will ever manifest.
However, when diverticula grow and place pressure on the intestinal walls—via bowel movements, constipation, gas, waste, or liquid—the intestinal walls weaken and diverticulitis develops, causing several digestive complications, including blockages, inflammation, bacterial infection, and rectal bleeding. Here are ten telling signs that you’ve developed diverticulitis…
1. No Symptoms
Diverticulitis is typically unnoticeable for quite a while before complications start to occur. Most people live their whole lives without the knowledge that they have diverticulitis until a doctor orders tests for an unrelated condition. This occurs because diverticula, small bulging pouches, develop fairly commonly within the digestive system’s inner lining, most often in the lower part of the colon (or large intestine).
The development of diverticula are quite typical after the age of 40-years old. However, they seldom cause pain or health problems. Only if the pouches become inflamed or filled with infection, does diverticulitis pain occur. This is why many sufferers can live for years without knowledge that they have diverticulitis or any health problems.
