Your gallbladder is a small sac located underneath your liver that stores bile, the digestive fluid. The liver produces bile and then sends it to the gallbladder, where it remains until it is needed to aid in the digestion of fats. Bile consists of water, fats, bile salts, a waste product called bilirubin and cholesterol. If there is too much cholesterol in the bile in your gallbladder, it can lead to the formation of cholesterol gallstones.
Physiology
Because cholesterol is a lipid, it is not soluble, which means that it does not dissolve in water. To move efficiently throughout your body, cholesterol must combine with bile salts referred to as micelles. For bile to retain its proper consistency, it must contain a certain balance of cholesterol and micelles. If the amount of cholesterol in your bile accumulates, it can cause the bile to thicken. If cholesterol continues to accumulate, it can lead to a condition called supersaturation, which is characterized by the formation of cholesterol crystals. These cholesterol crystals can harden, forming cholesterol gallstones. The formation of gallstones is referred to as cholelithiasis.
Facts
According to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, approximately 80 percent of gallstones are cholesterol gallstones. These gallstones, which are made from hardened cholesterol, are usually yellowish-green in color and can range in size from only millimeters wide to several inches in diameter. When cholesterol gallstones form, they can form independently, or in conjunction with several other gallstones.
Causes of Cholesterol Gallstones
Because cholesterol is a normal component of bile, the presence of cholesterol alone is not enough to cause the formation of cholesterol gallstones. Several different factors promote gallstones. In addition to excess cholesterol in the bile leading to cholesterol gallstones, you are also more likely to get cholesterol gallstones if your gallbladder does not empty properly, leaving the bile inactive in the gallbladder. Cholesterol gallstones can also form if the cells in the gallbladder lining do not properly absorb any of the cholesterol or fat from the bile.
Considerations
The University of Maryland Medical Center notes that while it may seem logical to assume that cholesterol-lowering medications can reduce your risk of gallstones, this is not actually the case. Cholesterol-lowering medications can lower the amount of cholesterol in your blood and prevent your body from absorbing cholesterol in your digestive tract, but there has been no scientific evidence that they can reduce the amount of cholesterol in your gallbladder. In fact, cholesterol-lowering medications can actually increase the amount of cholesterol that your liver secretes into your gallbladder and increase your risk of cholesterol gallstones, according to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse.
