Gallstones
Gallstones are small stones made of cholesterol that develop in the gallbladder. In most circumstances, they do not need treatments.
Signs of gallstones
Gallstones usually have no symptoms. But if a gallstone becomes entangled in an entrance (duct) inside the gallbladder, it can begin a sudden, severe stomach pain that lasts between 1 and 5 hours. This type of abdominal pain is biliary colic.
Some people with gallstones can also develop difficulties, such as gallbladder inflammation (cholecystitis).
This inflammation can cause:
- Continuous pain
- Yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice)
- A high temperature
When gallstones induce symptoms or complications, it’s termed gallstone disease or cholelithiasis.
Reasons of gallstones
Gallstones develop because of an inequality in the chemical makeup of bile inside the gallbladder.
In most issues, the cholesterol levels in bile become excessively high, and the surplus cholesterol forms into stones.
Gallstones are very common. It estimates that more than 1 in every ten adults has gallstones, although only a minority of people generate symptoms.
You’re more at risk if you’re:
- Overweight orobese
- Female (especially if you have had children)
- 40 or over (the danger grows as you get older)
Treating gallstones
Therapy is usually only required if gallstones are causing:
- Symptoms, such as stomach pain
- Complications, such as jaundice or acute pancreatitis
In these above cases, keyhole surgery to remove the gallbladder, known as a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, is simple and has a low risk of complications.
It’s feasible to lead an everyday life without a gallbladder.
Your liver will still deliver the bile to digest food, but the bile will constantly drip into the small intestine and then will not build up in the gallbladder.
Reviewed by – Dr. Priyanka, MBBS MD Microbiology
Page last reviewed: 16 JULY 2022