What Causes Diverticulitis? 10 Things GI Docs Wish You Knew

What exactly is diverticulitis?

To fully understand what causes diverticulitis, you must take a few steps backward. Diverticula are small pockets that form in the colon. Not everyone develops these pockets, but they are pretty common, especially after age 40. They rarely cause issues—unless one of the pockets become inflamed or infected. “This is what we would call diverticulitis,” says Arun Swaminath, MD, director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. “With diverticulitis, comes pain in the lower abdomen and fever,” he says. There may be other symptoms of diverticulitis too. So the question really becomes what causes diverticulitis?

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