Diverticulitis isn't caused by farting. My husband had to have surgery for this 2 years ago. I knew he was sick, but he refused to go to the doctor, even though he had BAD stomach pains. The only reason he ended up going was because the pain shot down into his testicles.
Turned out, his colon had actually ruptured, and he was slowly poisoning himself. The doctor said if he had waited another 2-3 days, he would have died from his bowel leaking into his abdomen.
It's caused because some people just happen to have pockets on the outside of their colon, called diverticuli. Some folks have it, some don't. They don't know what CAUSES the pockets, but in his case, what caused one to rupture was the foods he was eating. Sooo, they had to take about 12 inches of his colon out, and he's got a nice long scar from his navel to his groin. And now he's on a kinda strict diet. No nuts or seeds, no corn, or popcorn, no sausage, etc. etc.
You should see us in a restaurant...I'm sure the waitperson thinks I'm a total hag, because I'm always telling him he can't have this, can't have that, etc.