Approximately 5.5 percent of American men and 8.6 percent of American women have gallstones, according to Lawrence Friedman, M.D., Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in "Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment." There are several risk factors for this disorder. Obesity, rapid weight loss from surgery, diabetes mellitus, high carbohydrate diet, high cholesterol diet, cirrhosis, Crohn's disease and hepatitis C are all associated with gallstones. There are also several remedies available.
Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy
A cholecystectomy is the surgery performed to remove the gallbladder, while the laparoscope is a thin tube that the surgeon uses to remove it. Gerard Doherty, M.D., Section Head of General Surgery at the University of Michigan writes in "Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Surgery" that this operation is the remedy of choice for most people are having symptoms. These symptoms may include pain, nausea and vomiting, heartburn, upset stomach, gas and ill effects from eating fatty goods. If the cholecystectomy needs to be done, but cannot be done laparoscopically, the surgeon can perform the operation by opening the abdomen. But using the laparoscope, the surgeon needs to make only three or four small incisions in the abdomen. The hospital stay for the laparoscopic procedure is normally four days or less, and the patient can return to work much sooner than if the operation is done by cutting open the abdomen.
Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)
Bile is a substance that is formed in the liver, then released into the small intestines, or concentrated and stored in the gallbladder. It breaks up fats, but if it contains too much cholesterol, or too much of a substance called bilirubin, it will harden and form gallstones. Bile has to pass through ducts when it leaves the liver or gallbladder, and whenever it enters the small intestines. In "The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals," Eldon Shaffer, M.D., Professor of Medicine at the University of Calgary explains that gallstones can be in the gallbladder, or in any of these bile ducts. An endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, or ERCP, is a procedure that uses a tube called an endoscope to find gallstones and to see if any of the bile ducts are too narrow. The gallstones can then be crushed or removed. The surgeon can also widen any area of a bile duct.
Bile Salts
Bile is made of cholesterol, bilirubin, lipids, water and bile salts. It is actually the bile salts within the bile that break down fats. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) are both bile salts that can be taken in pill form. However, it can take as long as two years to dissolve the gallstones, according to Dr. Friedman in "Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment." In approximately 50 percent of people who take bile salts, they get gallstones again five years after they stop taking their daily dose.
References
- "Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Surgery"; Gerard Doherty, M.D.; 2010
- "Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment 2010"; Stephen McPhee, M.D., Maxine Papadakis, M.D.; 2010
- The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals: Cholelithiasis
