The gallbladder is a small pear-shaped hollow organ on the right side of the abdomen, just under the liver. Its main job is to store bile, a yellow-green bitter fluid that is produced in the liver cells. For proper digestion bile is essential since it helps eliminate our body’s waste products. It flows in a thin tube (hepatic duct) from the liver to another small tube (cystic duct) and enters the gallbladder.
When we eat our gallbladder releases a highly concentrated form of bile into the common bile duct which is a combination of hepatic and cystic ducts. The bile flows through this duct to the upper part of the small intestine (duodenum) where it breaks down the fat in our food.
If there is a large amount of cholesterol in the bile, crystals form. Over time these crystal stick together to form stones in the gallbladder. If these stones lodge in the neck of the gallbladder or bile ducts connecting the gallbladder to the liver and small intestine, this will cause pain, inflammation and other symptoms that lead to serious complications.
The population affected by gallstone disease varies. High rates occur in the United States, Canada, Chile, Sweden, Germany and Austria. The Asian population has a low incidence and people of East Africa have none.
Signs and Symptoms:
- Abdominal pain.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Yellowing of skin and white of the eye (jaundice).
- Unintended weight loss.
- Loss of appetite.
- Enlarged gallbladder. A blocked duct can cause bile to accumulate and makes the gallbladder larger. This can be detected by your doctor with ultrasound.
- Intense itching (pruritis). When bile is obstructed by a tumor, the bile salts may deposit on your skin leading to intense itching.
Gallbladder Risk Factors:
- Age: The risks increases as one gets older; most people are diagnosed in their sixties and seventies.
- Sex: Levels of female estrogen can cause more cholesterol, the main component of cholesterol stones.
- Bile duct abnormalties: In some people the pancreatobiliary junctions connect in such a way that allows the pancreas juices to back-up into the bile ducts which prevents bile from being quickly emptied into the small intestine.
- Cigarette smoke: Tobacco smoke contains hundreds of chemicals that damage DNA and increase your risk of cancer.
- Hazardous Chemicals: People exposed to industrial chemicals such as asbestos, and Azotoluene have a risk of developing cancer.
- Obesity: World Health Organization reports that one in every four cases of gallbladder disease is linked to excess weight. If you are thirty pounds over ideal weight you are at risk.
Gallbladder cancer:
Gallbladder cancer and bile duct concerns are quite rare; however, when they do occur it may be the result of a genetic inclination to gallstones.
In the early stages of gallbladder cancer, symptoms are the same as gallstone disease and it is often when the gallbladder is removed as a treatment for gall stones that it is found. When gallbladder cancer is caught early the removal of the gall bladder or part of the bile duct may eliminate all of the cancerous cells. In advanced cases, this may help to relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life but will not cure the cancer. The vast majority of people with gallstones never develop gallbladder cancer.
Diet: Do not avoid fats as fat free and low fat diets can cause problems, as much as too much of the wrong fats, such as hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated oils found in fried foods, margarine and saturated fats found in fast foods.
Avoid eggs, pork, onion, fowl, milk, coffee alcohol, corn, beans, nuts, radishes, cauliflower and turnips.
Good foods:
- Fresh vegetables
- Vegetable and fruit juices
- Lots of water
- Garlic
- Avocados
- Artichoke
- Ginger root
- Apples
- Apricots
- Berries
- Melons
- Pears
For more information: www.gallbladderattack.com, www.gastro.org,
www.cag-acg.org, www.nl,.nih.gov/medicineplus/gallbladderdisease.html,
Sylvia McGrath - Sylvia was born in Surrey England; her father an engineer was transferred several times taking his family to Scotland and then to Canada. ...
