Breaking Down Gallstones

Gall stones are abnormal solid elements present in the gall bladder. It can come at any age and can manifest at any age of life.

The diagnosis of gall stone related problems is suspected by the clinical symptoms and diagnosed by ultrasonography of the abdomen

When detected then the treatment depends on the clinical background of the individual patient, presence of gall stone related complications and the associated co morbid conditions.

Age group: Gall stone can come at any age. But usually come in the middle age between 30 to 50 years of age. Most of the times stone formation is much earlier than the time of clinical presentation. Most important point to be noted is that the stone formation may present with complications like jaundice or pancreatitis.
Sex Females are much more commonly affected than males. The estimated ratio is about 3:1.

Causes of gall stones:
There is no one particular reason to say the cause of gall stone formation. But there are some proposed mechanisms for the formation of gall stones.

1. Too much cholesterol in the bile Any individual having too much cholesterol in the bile can leads to yellow cholesterol stone formation. These hard stones may develop if the liver makes more cholesterol than normal. So, the amount of bile salts presents at a given time is not sufficient to dissolve the cholesterol present in the bile.

2. Too much bilirubin in the bile Bilirubin is a pigment produced when haemoglobin and myoglobin are destroyed. Some conditions like chronic liver damage and certain blood disorders like haemolytic anaemia causes the more bilirubin in the blood which leads to more bilirubin in the bile. So, individuals with excess bilirubin in the bile will leads to pigment gallstone formation. These hard stones are often dark brown or black in colour.

3. Improper emptying of the gall bladder. When the gall bladder is not able to empty the bile adequately by some reasons then there will be stagnation of bile in the gall bladder. This condition is more common with females because of cyclical hormonal changes in the body. The gallbladder needs to empty its bile in to the duodenum periodically so that the gall bladder will be healthy. If it fails to empty its bile content, then the bile becomes more concentrated, which causes stone formation. One important example is following surgery for duodenal ulcer. The surgical management of complicated duodenal ulcer involves the division of both vagi nerves which may end up with gall bladder dysfunction.

Risk factors for gall stone formation
Possible Factors which may increase the risk of gallstones formation include: • Being female • Being overweight or obese • Being sedentary • Being pregnant • Eating a high-fat diet • Eating a high-cholesterol diet • Eating a low-fibre diet • Having a family history of gallstones • Having diabetes • Losing weight very quickly • Taking medications that contain oestrogen, such as oral contraceptives or hormone therapy drugs • Having liver disease