Gallstones are hard objects that form inside the gallbladder, a membranous sac located underneath the liver on the right side of your abdomen. Gallstones typically cause no symptoms, but when they do, they take the form of pain, infection and inflammation. They are formed either from cholesterol or calcium salts. Contrary to popular belief, calcium from dairy products does not seem to play a role in calcium stone formation, according to the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse website. Consult your doctor before taking calcium supplements, however.
Cholesterol Stones and Pigment Stones
The two types of gallstones are cholesterol stones and pigment stones. Stones made out of cholesterol are radiolucent, which means these gallstones cannot be visualized on fluoroscopy. In contrast, pigment stones -- dark brown to black stones, consisting of calcium carbonate, calcium bilirubinate, or a combination of the both -- are visible with plain radiography. Pigment stones are less common than cholesterol stones and, occasionally, people have a mixture of the two types.
Calcium Supplements
Doctors often prescribe calcium supplements to treat osteoporosis. T.H. Magnuson, an associate professor of surgery at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and colleagues demonstrated that calcium supplementation increases biliary calcium concentration in dogs, which promotes the risk of pigment stones. It was found that dietary calcium supplementation produces gallbladder sludge that creates bile duct obstruction in the biliary system, leading to the formation of gallstone.
Gallstones in Children
In the United States, cholesterol stones are the most common type of gallstones in adult patients--70 to 95 percent have this type. However, children's gallstone composition appeared to be substantially different from that found in adults, according to a study by M.D. Stringer, MS FRCS and colleagues. The preliminary results, published in "Journal of Pediatric Surgery" in October 2007, showed that in children, calcium-containing stones predominated, occurring in 25 percent of all gallstone cases.
Treatment
Surgery remains the mainstay of treatment for gallbladder disease and gallstones. In open surgery, the surgeon makes a wide abdominal incision to remove the gallstone. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, or ERCP, and endoscopic sphincterotomy, or ES, are less injurious than open surgery and therefore have becoming increasingly popular. The ERCP procedure involves passing an endoscope through several small incisions in the abdomen for retrieving stones from the gallbladder.
References
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Gallstones and Gallbladder Disease - Treatment; June 26, 2009
- National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse; Kidney Stones in Adults; October 2007
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences: Calcified Gallstones and Chronic Calcific Pancreatitis; James M. Messmer
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Gallstones and Gallbladder Disease - Introduction; June 26, 2009
- "Journal of Pediatric Surgery"; Calcium Carbonate Gallstones in Children; M.D. Stringer, et al.; October 2007
- "The Journal of Surgical Research"; Oral Calcium Promotes Pigment Gallstone Formation; T.H. Magnuson; April 1989
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