About Gall Bladder Stones

Having gallbladder stones can cause no symptoms or be very painful. It can be hard to diagnose since the typical symptoms are similar to those of other conditions. Since there can be no symptoms, they are often only discovered during routine checkups. Sometimes you will need to seek treatment, and in other cases you will not.

Identification

• Gallstones form in the gallbladder, which is a small sac located underneath the liver. The gallbladder's main purpose is to store bile (a thick liquid that helps your body process fats), which is produced by the liver. When your body digests food, the bile is released into the small intestine. Gallstones form when substances such as cholesterol or calcium salts that are normally found in bile become hard and crystallize. These hard, crystallized substances form the gallstones. Gallbladder stones can also form when the gallbladder does not empty properly. Gallbladder stones can be as small as a grain of sand, or they can be golf-ball size. You can develop just one or hundreds. They can resolve on their own or be life-threatening.

Symptoms

• Many people with gallbladder stones have no symptoms at all and need no treatment. If symptoms occur, they can include sensations similar to indigestion. You may experience nausea, vomiting, gas and abdominal pain that is steady or comes in spurts. These symptoms can be exaggerated after eating foods high in fat. Sudden and steady pain can occur in the upper-right or middle section of the abdomen. The pain can occur at night or a few hours after eating. The symptoms can last half an hour or several hours. Some patients also experience pain that radiates from the abdominal area and into the shoulder or back. When this pain subsides, you might experience mild abdominal soreness for a day or two. In more severe cases where the gallbladder stones become stuck in the neck of the gallbladder, the result is more severe pain accompanied by a fever. In the most severe cases, the gallbladder stones can cause blockages. This can cause symptoms of jaundice, clay-colored stools and fever, and if not treated, your condition can be fatal. Gallbladder stones that cause blockages can also lead to inflammation of the pancreas, and they can increase your risk of gallbladder cancer.

Causes

• The reasons the body forms gallbladder stones is still not well understood. However, in most cases, gallbladder stone formation is the result of a buildup of cholesterol that is undissolved. This can occur if your diet is high in cholesterol. They also occur when the gallbladder does not empty properly. This can happen during pregnancy or if you have irregular eating habits, such as eating too little fat or going long periods without eating. When the body does not have enough food to digest, the muscular contractions of the gallbladder decrease. When the muscles of the gallbladder are not fully contracting, the gallbladder cannot empty completely. Gallbladder stones are most common in overweight people, women, those with sickle cell disease and anyone who has experienced rapid weight loss. Certain medications can also cause gallbladder stones.

Treatment

• If your gallbladder stones are not causing symptoms or blockages, no treatment may be required. If symptoms do exist, you and your doctor might decide to wait it out first to see if the situation resolves itself. If you are having more severe symptoms, then removing the stones through surgery may be necessary. This can include laparoscopic surgery or open surgery. Laparoscopic surgery uses a pencil-thin scope that contains a light and camera on its end. The surgeon makes a small incision in the abdomen to insert the scope and other small abdominal incisions to remove the stones. This type of surgery is preferred since the small incisions mean less pain and a faster recovery time for the patient. Recovery can take just a few days. In the case of open surgery, a larger incision is made in the abdomen. This option is used in more severe cases, when the walls of the gallbladder are thick and hard, in cases of infection or if there is excessive scar tissue. With open surgery, the patient may need to stay in the hospital up to a week, and then there are several more weeks of recovery at home.

Prevention

• Gallbladder stones cannot be completely prevented. However, you can take some steps to reduce your risk of developing them. Maintaining a healthy weight or losing excess weight is the first step. Aim to lose no more then 2 lb. per week. Yo-yo dieting and losing or gaining large amounts of weight put you at a higher risk. Stay clear of crash diets, and do not drop your daily caloric intake to any lower than 800 calories per day. Regular exercise helps keep all of your muscles strong and your body functioning in top form. Reduce the amount of animal fat and fried foods, and eat more low-fat and high-fiber foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains.