A 38-year-old member asked:
Is it true that diverticulitis is a hereditary disease?
1 doctor answer • 2 doctors weighed in
Dr. Steve Howeanswered
Thoracic Surgery 31 years experience
Generally not: Diverticular disease is generally a sporadic , acquired problem with the large intestine (mainly left colon and sigmoid colon) and considered to be caused primarily by poor fiber diets. This causes smaller stools and higher colonic pressures required to evacuate those stools . There are rare inherited connective tissue disorders associated with diverticular disease but these are the exception.
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3.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Last updated May 20, 2016
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