What are gallstones? The gallbladder is a small sac found just under the liver. It stores bile made by the liver. Bile helps you digest fats. Gallstones are made from cholesterol and other things found in the bile. They can be smaller than a grain of sand or as large as a golf ball. People who are overweight and females are more likely to get gallstones. Most people who have gallstones do not have symptoms. If you have symptoms, you most likely will have mild pain in the pit of your stomach or in the upper right part of your belly. Pain may spread to your right upper back or shoulder blade area. Sometimes the pain is more severe. It may be steady, or it may come and go. Or it may get worse when you eat. When gallstones keep blocking a bile duct, you may have pain with fever and chills. Or your skin or the whites of your eyes may turn yellow. Having stones in your bile duct increases your chance of having a swollen pancreas (pancreatitis). These symptoms may also be a sign of an infected gallbladder. Call your doctor right away if you have sudden or bad pain in your belly or chest and you are not sure what is causing it. Symptoms of gallstones may feel like chest pain caused by a heart attack and other serious problems. Most people have gallstones but dont know it because they do not have symptoms. How are they treated? If you do not have symptoms, you probably do not need treatment. If your first gallstone attack causes mild pain, your doctor may tell you to take pain medicine and wait to see if the pain goes away. If you have a bad attack, or if you have a second attack, you may want to have your gallbladder removed. A second attack means you are more likely to have future attacks. Many people have their gallbladders removed, and the surgery usually goes well. Doctors most often use laparoscopic surgery. Do you need your gallbladder? Your body will work fine without a gallbladder. Bile will flow straight from the liver to the intestine. There may be small changes in how you digest food, but you probably will not notice them.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 17:15:36 +0000
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