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Maintaining a healthy lifestyle\u2014specifically, a diet rich in fiber but light on red\/processed meat, regular exercise, not smoking, and sticking to a normal weight\u2014is linked to a significantly lower risk of diverticulitis, finds a large long-term study, published online in the journal Gut.<\/p>\n
What’s more, these five components seem to offset the effects of inherited genes, the findings indicate.<\/p>\n
Diverticulitis occurs when “pouches” develop along the gut and become inflamed or infected in the wall of the large intestine (colon), explain the researchers. It’s a common cause of hospital admissions and a major reason for emergency colon surgery, they add.<\/p>\n
Genetic and environmental factors<\/a>, including lifestyle, contribute to the development of the condition, but it’s not clear exactly how these factors interact or the extent to which lifestyle might offset the genetic risk<\/a>, they say.<\/p>\n To shed more light on this, the researchers derived an overall healthy lifestyle score (0-5) for diverticulitis<\/a> from survey responses for 179,564 participants drawn from three prospective studies: the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS)<\/a>, NHSII<\/a>, and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study<\/a>.<\/p>\n The score was based on five elements that have independently been associated with heightened risks of developing diverticulitis: smoking; weight (BMI); physical activity<\/a>; fiber intake; and red\/processed meat intake.<\/p>\n Genetic risk was assessed using a polygenic risk score<\/a> (PRS) in 36,077 people with available genotype information.<\/p>\n During a monitoring period of 20 years, 10,299 new cases of diverticulitis were recorded. The five lifestyle factors were each significantly associated with the development of the condition.<\/p>\n For example, compared with participants with a BMI below 25, those who were overweight were 32% more likely to develop diverticulitis, while those who were obese were 44% more likely to do so.<\/p>\n Participants who had formerly or who were still smoking were, respectively, 17% and 13% more likely to be diagnosed with diverticulitis than those who had never smoked. And higher levels of physical activity were associated with a 16% reduced risk compared with lower levels.<\/p>\n While higher fiber intake was associated with a 14% lower risk, higher red meat intake was associated with a 9% increased risk.<\/p>\n And every 1-point increase in healthy lifestyle score was associated with a 12% lower risk of diverticulitis. Participants with a score of 5 were 50% less likely to be diagnosed with the condition than those with a score of 0.<\/p>\n The findings were consistently observed across all three studies and in different racial groups.<\/p>\n The association between healthy lifestyle score and incident diverticulitis was confirmed among 30,750 participants in the Southern Community Cohort Study (SCCS).<\/a><\/p>\n Some 2,183 new cases of diverticulitis were reported during an average monitoring period of nearly 12 years in this group. Those with a healthy lifestyle score of 3\u20135 had a substantially lower risk (31%) than those with a score of 0.<\/p>\n Genetic risk was assessed using a polygenic (cumulative) risk score (PRS) in 36,077 people with available genotype information in the NHS, NHSII, and HPFS groups.<\/p>\n There were no notable differences in lifestyle factors across PRS categories, but PRS was significantly associated with incident diverticulitis. For each unit increase in PRS, the risk increased by 58%, and was particularly evident among those under the age of 60.<\/p>\n And a healthy lifestyle seemed to offset genetic susceptibility to the condition. For example, those in the lowest PRS category and with a healthy lifestyle score of 4\u20135 were 37% less likely to develop diverticulitis compared to those with a score of 0.<\/p>\n Similarly, those with a medium PRS were 48% less likely to do so, while those in the highest PRS category were 50% less likely to do so. Further analysis showed that adopting a healthy lifestyle might prevent 23\u201342% of diverticulitis cases across PRS categories.<\/p>\n And when the effect of PRS and a healthy lifestyle score were combined, those in the highest PRS category with a healthy lifestyle score of 0 or 1 were five times more likely to develop diverticulitis than those in the lowest PRS category with a score of 4 or 5.<\/p>\n The findings were further validated in the Mass General Brigham Biobank (MGBB).<\/a><\/p>\n This is an observational study, and as such, can’t establish cause. And the researchers acknowledge that ascertainment of diverticulitis was based on different approaches across the different studies.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, they conclude, “Our data provide consistent evidence from multiple data sets<\/a> indicating that adherence to a healthy lifestyle is linked to a reduced risk<\/a> of developing diverticulitis, irrespective of one’s genetic predisposition.”<\/p>\n More information:<\/strong> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProvided by \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n \n Citation<\/strong>: \n This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
\n Lifestyle factors, genetic susceptibility and risk of incident diverticulitis: an integrated analysis of four prospective cohort studies and electronic health records-linked biobank, Gut (2025). DOI: 10.1136\/gutjnl-2025-335364<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBritish Medical Journal<\/a>
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\n Healthy lifestyle linked to lower diverticulitis risk, irrespective of genetic susceptibility (2025, July 1)
\n retrieved 1 July 2025
\n from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2025-06-healthy-lifestyle-linked-diverticulitis-irrespective.html\n <\/p>\n
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