Information about diverticular disease (DD) is available in fact sheets on many internet sites, but these should be assessed. Is it up to date, does it help day-to-day problems, is it a charity or a business? Discussions on forums show a variety of experiences of DD and no general approach on what can be done to help. DD is sometimes mentioned by charities which support younger people with, for example, Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis (IBD) or Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). In the last few years some people with DD have been told that they also have IBS. This can be very confusing because DD and IBS are different complaints sometimes with conflicting treatments and certainly different potential outcomes. Some researchers propose that any symptoms without diverticulitis must be IBS. This ignores or denies the colon damage which resulted in diverticula forming. Sources of information about IBS do not cover an IBS/DD diagnosis, never mind any differences which should be considered. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Migraine’
Diverticular disease AND/OR irritable bowel syndrome
Friday, June 29th, 2018Overlapping illnesses
Tuesday, September 14th, 2010
In his article ‘How what happens homes in on your gut’ (Gut Reaction Issue 65) Prof Read describes how illnesses tend to overlap. People with IBS are also 60% more likely to have migraine and depression (1) as well as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and functional dyspepsia which were mentioned. A link has also been demonstrated between IBS and overactive bladder (2).
A common thread through these ‘unexplained illnesses’ is the role of serotonin, also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine or 5HT. (more…)
Migraine, the gut and diverticular disease
Tuesday, September 14th, 2010
MIGRAINE AND GUT MALFUNCTION
“What has migraine got to do with diverticular disease?”
That was the occasional response when DD sufferers were asked in a survey if they or any blood relative have/did have migraine. However, 42% of females and 29% of males had migraine themselves or a blood relative did. Some noted that they ‘used to have’ migraine. These figures are far higher than the 10% or so incidence of migraine expected at retirement ages. A survey of migraine sufferers in Ireland found that 51% had also been diagnosed with IBS. A survey of people with IBS found a 60% greater prevalence of migraine than in non-IBS controls (1). There was a frequent association between headache, including migraine, and gastrointestinal symptoms (acid reflux, diarrhoea, constipation and nausea) in a Norwegian report (2).
Patients who did not respond to a high fibre diet, who had a single, intermittent abdominal pain were investigated in Leeds (3). Symptoms and family history suggested that 49% of them might have abdominal migraine and 32% of these had typical migraine symptoms during the attack. Mulak (4) noted that migraine and IBS often coexist. (more…)