Many people aren’t aware what the function of a gallbladder is, or where it is located within the body, which means they aren’t aware of the risks of gallbladder disease. This organ is a small pear-shaped area of the body which is situated on the underside of the liver and stores bile. The bile is made in the liver and is stored until it is needed to digest fat. Gallbladder disease is actually quite a common condition which generally affects women, though men can suffer with it too. The symptoms vary from discomfort to severe pain, generally beginning after you’ve eaten food. In very severe cases, it can also cause jaundice, nausea and feverish symptoms. However, the most common reason for gallbladder disease is gallstones. These are solid stones which form in the organ and are made from cholesterol, bile salts and calcium – they vary in size from just a few millimetres to a couple of centimetres. Gallstones are developed when bile contains too much cholesterol, which forms crystals.
People of any age can develop gallstones, but they are rarer in young people. As you get older, your risk of developing gallstones increases. If you have relatives with gallstones, are obese, have high cholesterol, take drugs with oestrogen in them, or have diseases such as chronic intestinal inflammation, you will be more at risk of this disease. However, it is important to remember that not all gallstones cause symptoms – those detected during a scan used for other health complaints generally won’t be treated. But you will need to discuss this with your doctor. The symptoms can vary significantly, but they usually present themselves in one of three ways – chronic cholecycstitis, acute cholecystitis or jaundice. Chronic cholecysistis is a long-term inflammation of the gall bladder and leads to sporadic pains in the abdomen, which may become worse over an hour or so, then stay the same; pain which may spread to the right shoulder or develop between the shoulder blades; pain which can sometimes become accompanied by nausea and vomiting. The frequency of these attacks can be triggered by fatty foods, such as pastry, chocolate or cheese. There are other heath concerns, such as gastric ulcers, heart pains and kidney stones, which have similar symptoms, so it can be difficult to distinguish between them. Acute cholocystits results in a persistent pain and temperature which lasts for more than 12 hours, pain or tenderness under the ribs, and pain which is made worse by coughing or movements. While patients with these symptoms may not have gallstones, they usually do. Jaundice is highlighted by a yellow tinge to the whites of the eyes and the skin, as well as skin becoming itchy and pale bowel motions.
If you’re suffering with recurrent pain from attacks, you can often quell the pain with over-the-counter painkillers. You may also find it useful to place something warm on your stomach, such as a hot water bottle, being careful not to scald the skin – some people find that the frequency of attacks can be helped by a low-fat diet. If you don’t have any symptoms from your gallstones, then you won’t require any treatment. But if you find that a low-fat diet doesn’t help, you may need some other form of treatment – this may, but doesn’t always, mean surgery. Some people find dissolution therapy helpful, which is a type of medicine used to dissolve specific types of gallstones. If you are keen to avoid surgery, this may be an option but it takes time to dissolve the gallstones and they often come back once treatment is stopped.