[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by Erijo

Dear Villages Pl,
Please recheck your facts before you post info on here about colonoscopies and diverticulitis. I am a RN x42 years and 17 of them were in an Endoscopy unit. In fact I studied and sat for a national exam that earned me a certification in my field. I was honored to write CGRN after my name on charts. If a person is symptomatic, change in bowel habits, bleeding, anemia, to name a few, a doctor will perform a colonoscopy if necessary. Never ever should symptoms be ignored regardless of age. Secondly, it is called diverticulosis. These are little out pouchings on the wall of the colon. Can be caused by low fiber diet, ( infrequent bowel movements, constipation causes build up of pressure in colon, and in turn can cause the outpouchings), our age and heredity. It is when one of these out pouchings gets inflamed, can cause abcess/ infection and this is what causes the abdominal pain. This is called diverticulitis. If this is left untreated it can possibly cause a perforation of the bowel. Usually patient is admitted, IV fluids, antibiotics, bowel rest/ clear fluids diet until symptoms subside. This is all under the care of a doctor. Please, if anyone out there has not had a colonoscopy ever, talk to your doctor. Colon cancer, if found early is treatable and curable, I know from experience. High fiber diet is very important, fruits and vegetables and exercising, walking is good. My apologies for the medical lesson, but I felt I had to expand on the information given by my fellow Villager. Stay healthy!

The difference between diverticulitis and diverticulosis is a technical point that is not germane to the point I was making in my opening post. The difference being that diverticulitis adds inflammation and is more inclusive.

Also, you stated that if a person is symptomatic they will get a colonoscopy whereas I had not introduced the aspect of symptoms (the ones you mentioned) into my discussion. That means I was referring to regular colonoscopy checkups.