Gallstones are pebble like substances that develop in the gall bladder. The gall bladder is a pear shaped sac located below the liver in the right abdomen. Gall stones form when bile liquid stored in the gall bladder hardens into pieces of stone-like material. Bile contains water, cholesterol, fats, bile salts, proteins, and bilirubin. If the liquid bile contains too much cholesterol or bilirubin it can harden into gall stones. They can be as small as a grain or as big as big as a golf ball. The gall bladder produces one large stone or hundreds of tiny stones or a combination of both.
Women between the ages of 20 and 60 are most at risk of developing gall stones. Other risk factors include pregnancy, use f birth control pills and hormones therapy, rapid weight loss, obesity, a high- fat low-fibre diet, diabetes and a family history of gall stones. Most patients do not show any sign of gall stones. Chronic indigestion, which gets worse after eating high fat foods and sudden, steady and moderate to intense pain in the upper middle or upper right abdomen are signals of gall stones.
The risk of gall stones can be reduced by regular intake of food without skipping meals, by taking fat-free and fibre-rich diet, by exercising most days of the week and losing weight slowly and gradually.
If left untreated, gall stones may cause problems like inflammation, rupture, perforation or pus formation all in the gall bladder.
Gallstones
29
Jul