GALLSTONES Learn about the Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment Available

Dr.Nikhil Yadav, 3 mins read

What Causes Gallstones

The gallbladder is a small organ in the upper right abdomen, right below the liver; it’s pouch-like and serves as a storehouse for bile. Gallstones cause blockage and significant inconvenience for an afflicted individual. If you have pain in your lower stomach but can’t identify exactly where you can always search up “what causes gallbladder pain?” specifically, and you’ll get ample online that will help you recognize where exactly your stomach is hurting. In this article, we’ll examine the symptoms, and causes, explain available treatments, and tell you about common gallstone-causing food you should avoid.

Symptoms of Gallstones

The most common symptom of gallstones is a pain in the upper right abdomen or a bang in the center of the stomach. This pain arises more apparently when people eat foods that have high amounts of fat. These bouts of pain from gallstone issues will, at best last for a few hours, but with severity ranging from mild to severe. We’re often asked, “are gallstones dangerous?”- they can be if left undiagnosed and untreated. For advancing gallstones, symptoms may become more intense and include the likes of a rapid heartbeat, a contest fever, itching all over, yellowness on the skin and in the whites of the eyes (a sign of jaundice), chills, confusion, diarrhea, and loss of appetite. All of these point towards either an infection in the gallbladder or inflammation in the same, along with the liver or pancreas. These symptoms are serious and common to pancreatitis and appendicitis, so if you’re experiencing any of them, do not wait; go straight to the emergency and see a doctor as early as possible.

Probable causes of gallstones

It is widely accepted that a chemical imbalance in bile (as found in the gallbladder) is the true cause of gallstones. However, newer studies and findings have left most researchers rather clear regarding the exact cause of the imbalance. The medical community at large does factor in a few gallstone causes like

The presence of excess cholesterol in the bile

People with very high levels of cholesterol in their bile may develop hard yellow cholesterol stones. Essentially, these stones can develop when the liver begins to produce more cholesterol than the bile can dissolve properly.

Excessive amounts of bilirubin in the bile

This chemical is produced as part of the normal breakdown of red blood cells, and once it is created, it is meant to pass through the liver and subsequently be excreted from the body.

Some other conditions that include blood disorders, or liver damage, cause the liver to produce higher amounts of bilirubin than it normally should, and gallstones will form as and when the gallbladder can’t break down any more of the excess bilirubin. This usually creates hard stones, often dark brown or black.

Overly concentrated bile

If the gallbladder remains full for a long time and fails to empty itself, the bile can become very highly concentrated, causing the formation of gallstones. The gallbladder needs to empty its bile to function properly constantly.

Treatment for Gallbladder Stones

Surgery is the best option if you can get it; is because gallstones can come back without surgical removal.

Cholecystectomy is surgery to remove the gallbladder and is routinely performed by expert surgeons at Aakash. The removal of the gallbladder is not harmful to your body, and living without it is quite normal sans any short-term or long-term side effects. We perform laparoscopic cholecystectomy and Open cholecystectomy with the same amount of success and precision.

ALSO READ: What are Gall Bladder stones and How to treat them?