Show 1171: How Can You Avoid the Pain of Diverticulitis?
The People's Pharmacy
Joe and Terry Graedon
4.6 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 28 June 2019
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Diverticulitis can cause excruciating pain. What causes this problem, and how can you prevent it?
As we grow older, many of us acquire little pouches, pockets or potholes in the large intestine. Doctors have a term for the presence of these diverticula: they call the condition diverticulosis. However, if food or feces get trapped in one of these potholes, the result can be infection and inflammation. Physicians term this inflammation diverticulitis.
The Pain of Diverticulitis:
The pain of diverticulitis can really get your attention. What can you do about it? In the midst of a diverticulitis crisis, you probably won’t feel like eating anything. Moreover, you shouldn’t; bowel rest with just liquids for a day or two is a good plan. If you start to run a fever or the pain is worsening, you should seek medical attention. Diverticulitis can be serious in itself, and it might also be confused with appendicitis, so it shouldn’t be ignored.
Managing Diverticulosis with Diet:
You may be able to sidestep the pain of diverticulitis by following a high-fiber diet for your diverticulosis. (Remember: diverticulosis is a chronic and painless condition, while the pain of diverticulitis signals an acute inflammation.) Plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole grains are appropriate to keep your large intestine healthy. They also are good food for your intestinal microbiota. In fact, if you don’t offer your intestinal microbes enough fiber, they may start to chomp on the mucus lining the intestines themselves. That could set you up for more trouble. If you have been told to avoid nuts and seeds, stay away from partially popped popcorn kernels.
Drugs That Make the Pain of Diverticulitis Worse:
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, naproxen or diclofenac are popular for pain relief, but they can be irritating to the digestive tract. Other medications that could cause trouble in the large intestine include antidepressants and anticholinergic medicines. (Here’s a list.) Consequently, if your doctor prescribes one of these drugs, have a conversation about alternatives and explain that you want to avoid the pain of diverticulitis.
This Week’s Guest:
Robynne K Chutkan, MD, is on the faculty at Georgetown University Hospital and is founder of the Digestive Center for Wellness in Washington DC. Dr. Chutkan is a board-certified gastroenterologist and the author of three books on digestive health: Gutbliss, The Microbiome Solution and The Bloat Cure.
Her website is https://gutbliss.com
Listen to the Podcast:
The podcast of this program will be available the Monday after the broadcast date. The show can be streamed online from this site and podcasts can be downloaded for free. CDs may be purchased at any time after broadcast for $9.99.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I'm Joe Gradyton and I'm Terry Grady. Welcome to this podcast of the People's Pharmacy. |
| 0:06.1 | You can find previous podcasts and more information on a range of health topics at people's pharmacy.com. |
| 0:15.0 | A bad belly aches gets your attention fast. |
| 0:18.0 | One possible cause is diverticulitis, which can be a medical emergency. |
| 0:24.5 | This is the People's Pharmacy with Terry and Joe Grayden. How can you tell the difference between diverticulosis, diverticulitis, and appendicitis? |
| 0:41.0 | Is there anything you can do to keep diverticulosis from flaring up into diverticulitis? |
| 0:48.0 | How do you stay out of the emergency room? |
| 0:51.3 | What's the best diet? Sometimes people get conflicting recommendations which can be |
| 0:56.6 | confusing. Our guest, Gastroanterologist Robin Chutkin, clarifies what to eat and what to avoid. |
| 1:04.0 | Coming up on the People's Pharmacy, get the details on diverticula. |
| 1:09.0 | First the news. In the Peebles Pharmacy Health Headlines, |
| 1:17.0 | there's growing evidence of a link between dementia |
| 1:20.0 | and drugs that interfere with the neurotransants like amatryptylene or peroxetine, |
| 1:24.0 | such anticholinergic drugs include antidepressants like amatryptoline or peroxetine, |
| 1:30.0 | medications for Parkinson disease, such as Benstropine, medicines for overactive bladder like |
| 1:36.5 | Tolteridine, and anticonvulsants such as carbon mazepine. |
| 1:41.2 | British researchers reviewed the medical records of more than 250,000 people in primary |
| 1:46.7 | care practices in the UK. |
| 1:49.2 | There were nearly 59,000 individuals who had been diagnosed with dementia, each one was matched to five |
| 1:55.8 | controls of similar age who had no dementia diagnosis. In looking back over more than a |
| 2:01.8 | decade of prescriptions, |
| 2:03.4 | the investigators found that people who had taken anticholinergic medicines |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Joe and Terry Graedon, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Joe and Terry Graedon and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.