Gallstones are small or big pieces of solid stone-like material that get formed in your gallbladder. The gallbladder is a small organ situated under your liver. If your doctor examines or finds stones in your gallbladder, you might be suffering from cholelithiasis.
Your gallbladder releases bile and even stores it. Bile, a fluid that is made in your liver, helps in digestion, apart from also helping your body get rid of wastes like cholesterol and bilirubin, which are the byproducts from the formation of red blood cells. These things can form gallstones.
Gallstones can differ in size and they may be like a grain of sand or the size of a golf ball. A person may only come to know that they even exist in their body when they block a bile duct, causing intense pain.
Gallstones: Signs and Symptoms
According to the doctors of Mayo Clinic, here are a few common signs and symptoms of gallstones:
Pain in your upper belly or on the right side of the ribs
Pain in your right shoulder or back
An upset stomach
Vomiting
Digestive problems like indigestion, heartburn, and gas
Signs of infection or inflammation
Stomach pain may last for several hours
Fever and chills
Yellow skin or eyes
Dark urine and light-colored poop
Gallstones: Causes and Risk Factors
Doctors of Cleveland Clinic aren’t sure exactly what causes gallstones but here are a few things that may play a role:
Too much cholesterol in your bile: Your body requires bile to digest food and dissolve the cholesterol. But when the body fails to dissolve the extra cholesterol, it might form stones.
Too much bilirubin in your bile: Medical conditions like cirrhosis, infections, and blood disorders can also make your liver produce bilirubin that is more than required.
Your gallbladder doesn’t empty all the way and hence your bile remains concentrated.
Here are a few risk factors that increase your chances of gallstones:
Family history of gallstones
Women are more likely to have gallstones.
People above the age of 40 have a higher risk.
People who are of native American or Mexican descent.
Obesity
Diet high in fat and cholesterol, but low in fiber
Sedentary lifestyle
Usage of birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy
Pregnancy
Crohn’s Disease
Hemolytic anemia or liver cirrhosis
Medicine for managing cholesterol
Excessive weight loss
Frequent fasting
Gallstones: Diagnosis
According to PubMed Central, these are a few tests that your doctor might require you to take in the case of gallstones:
Blood tests to know if you have an infection or blockage
Ultrasound to get the images of the inside of your body
CT scan to get to see inside your body, especially in your gallbladder
Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) to take pictures of the inside of your body, including your liver and gallbladder
Cholescintigraphy (HIDA scan) to ensure that your gallbladder squeezes correctly
Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) to check your bile ducts on a camera in the endoscope. It also helps take out any gallstones that have moved into the ducts.
Endoscopic ultrasound to find if there are any gallstones
Gallstones: Treatment
According to MedicalNewsToday, people with no symptoms do not need any treatment because the body can get rid of gallstones on its own if they are too small. But people with gallstones also have their gallbladders taken out. The procedures include:
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy: A common surgery for gallstones in which your doctor passes a narrow tube (laparoscope) into your belly through a small cut and takes out the gallbladder.
Open cholecystectomy is a procedure in which your doctor makes bigger cuts in your belly and removes the gallbladder. You will have to stay in the hospital for a few days.
Doctors can use ERCP to remove gallstones in your bile ducts.
Your doctor may prescribe medicines like Chenodiol (Chenodol) and ursodiol (Actigall, Urso 250, Urso Forte) to dissolve cholesterol stones.
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