Diverticular disease, carcinoma of the colon and diet in urban and rural Kenya Africans

Abstract

20 cases of diverticular disease and 12 cases of carcinoma of the colon have been demonstrated in 183 barium enemas in 1 year. These results, along with a dietary survey, show that diverticular disease can no longer be considered rare in Kenyan Africans and that a low-fibre diet is a contributory but perhaps not the only factor in its aetiology. There is probably an increasing incidence of diverticular disease as well as an increasing recognition of it. The incidence of carcinoma does not appear to be increasing to the same extent.