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2d ago

Five Lifestyle Habits Cut Diverticulitis Risk and Offset Inherited Susceptibility

Published July 1 in Gut, the integrated analysis shows that each point on a five-factor lifestyle scale lowers diverticulitis incidence by 12%.

Diiverticulitis risk can be greatly reduced even if you're genetically more likely to develop it, new study finds

Overview

  • The healthy lifestyle score was built on five modifiable factors—normal BMI, never smoking, regular exercise, high fiber and low red/processed meats—and derived from 20 years of data on 179,564 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study, NHSII and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study.
  • Each 1-point increase in the score corresponded to a 12% lower risk of diverticulitis, with individuals scoring 5 experiencing a 50% reduction compared to those scoring 0.
  • Genetic predisposition measured by a polygenic risk score raised diverticulitis risk by 58% per unit, but participants in the highest genetic-risk group who scored 4–5 on the lifestyle scale halved their incidence.
  • Associations were confirmed among 30,750 Southern Community Cohort Study participants and further validated in the Mass General Brigham Biobank, demonstrating consistency across diverse racial and genetic populations.
  • As an observational analysis published July 1 in Gut, the study cannot establish causation and faced varied diverticulitis case-ascertainment methods, prompting calls for further investigation into underlying mechanisms.