Diverticulitis treatment

Diverticulitis treatment for mild to moderate cases usually involves some or all of the following:

• antibiotics, to clear up the infection
• painkillers and anti-spasmodics to help control the pain and cramping of the colon
• eating a liquid or soft diet for a short while, for example soup, cooked vegetables, mashed potato
• drinking enough fluids.

Some patients may be admitted to hospital for a short stay while their infection while the infection or inflammation is treated.

Aloe Vera as a Treatment for Diverticulitis

The Aloe Vera plant is believed by many to be one of nature's most incredible byproducts.  It has been used for many years around the house to treat cuts and burns, and has been incorporated into countless of commercial products such as lip-balm, shampoo, and sunscreen/sunburn lotions.  However, there exists a concentrated powdered extract from aloe called aloe mucilaginous polysaccharide. It is used to treat auto-immune disorders and diseases.   Particularly those in the digestive tract.

Aloe Mucilaginous Polysaccharides can be used to help treat diverticulitis.  Aloe mucilaginous polysaccharides are long-chain sugar molecules composed of individual mannose and glucose sugar molecules connected together — which have been attributed to subduing and reducing symptoms associated with Diverticulitis. 

The AMP molecule is extracted from the aloe plant in a controlled environment.  To get the highest refinement of AMP, lyophilization must be used to preserve the varying sizes of molecules that contain these potent healing properties.  Unfortunately, there are few manufacturers that offer the freeze-dried extracted form of AMP as it is expensive to manufacture.   To learn more about lyophilization, read this article: Processing of Aloe Mucilaginous Polysaccharides. 

SEROVERA® AMP 500 is currently the only vendor of freeze-dried Aloe Mucilaginous Polysaccharides.

After-care and prevention

After the infection has passed, it is normally recommended that patients avoid another attack through careful management of their diet and making sure that they eat enough high fiber foods.

General tips include:

• eating a healthy diet with enough fiber from fruits, vegetables and other foods
• possibly using an over the counter fiber supplement such as Metamucil (psyllium husk) which can be stirred into water and drunk daily
• drinking sufficient water (up to eight glasses a day)
• exercising regularly.

These tips can help to prevent constipation, which can be an irritating factor for diverticulitis sufferers, as the straining can make the pouches in the colon bigger or produce new ones.

For many years doctors recommended avoiding foods such as nuts and seeds because it was believed they could get trapped in the pouches and worsen symptoms. However, some doctors now believe that these foods don't actually cause any problems and can be eaten safely.

There is more information on recommended diets on the diverticulitis diet page.

Surgery

For more serious cases of diverticulitis, or for recurring cases, surgery to remove the section of the bowel which contains the pouches may be an option. Surgery is also used if a pouch has broken open and the contents of the pouch have leaked into the abdominal cavity, which will then need cleaning out.