Gallstones: Symptoms, Causes, Risks, Treatment, Diet, & More

Gallstones: Symptoms

The gallbladder is an organ in our digestive system that is located under the liver. The gallbladder stores bile that is produced by the liver. It is a green-yellow fluid that is used for the digestion of food. The gallbladder can be affected by gallstones if the cholesterol level in your bile is at an excessive amount.

Gallbladder stones can be painful and, in severe cases, may even require surgical intervention to remove the stones from your body. Here is all the information regarding the symptoms, causes, risks, and treatment of gallstones that you need to know.

Symptoms

Gallstones: Symptoms

One of the first gallstones symptoms can be intense pain in the upper right part of your abdomen. It can be triggered by your dietary habits, especially if you have a lot of fried food with high-fat content. The pain from gallstones does not last for a very long time. On average, the pain lasts for a few hours each time. Apart from the pain, there are other symptoms for gallstones as well, this includes:

  • Vomiting

  • Nausea

  • Stomach Pain

  • Dark urine

  • Clay-coloured stool

  • Diarrhoea

  • Burping

  • Indigestion

Asymptomatic gallstones

Gallstones are not painful by nature; the pain is caused by the blockage of bile movement from the gallbladder caused by gallstones. Since gallstones are inherently painless, studies by the American College of Gastroenterology have shown that almost 80% of people suffer from silent gallstones. In such cases, the usual symptoms of gallstones are not experienced by the patient. They are only discovered by the doctors in abdominal X-rays or when performing abdominal surgery on the patient.

Causes

A medical study has shown 80% of gallstones are made out of cholesterol, the remaining 20% is made out of bilirubin and calcium salts. As the major part of gallstones is made out of cholesterol, people with high cholesterol levels in their blood are more susceptible to gallstones. Some of the other causes of gallstones include:

When your bile consists of plenty of Bilirubin

Bilirubin is a chemical fluid produced by the liver. Its purpose is to destroy old red blood cells from the body. Due to liver disorders and some other types of blood disorders, the liver produces excessive amounts of Bilirubin. This excessive secretion of Bilirubin causes the formation of dark brown or black gallstones that are pigmented. These gallstones are formed due to the gallbladder being unable to break down the excessive amounts of Bilirubin.

When your bile consists of excessive amounts of cholesterol

Cholesterol rich gallstones develop when the cholesterol level produced by your liver is more than what bile available in your body can dissolve. Cholesterol rich gallstones tend to be yellow in colour.

When the gallbladder is unable to empty itself leading to concentrated bile

The gallbladder is an organ that functions best when it can properly store and empty its bile contents without any hindrance. When the gallbladder cannot empty its contents of bile in an orderly fashion, it leads to the development of concentrated bile that eventually leads to the formation of gallstones.

Risks

Gallstones have many risk factors, some of which are controllable while others are uncontrollable. The controllable risk factors generally relate to a person’s diet. The uncontrollable factors delve into the person’s gender, sex, age, race, family history. These factors can’t be changed; Hence they are called the uncontrollable risk factors of gallstones.

Controllable risk factors

  • Having obesity or being overweight

  • Suffering from diabetes mellitus

  • Suffering from sudden weight loss in a very short period of time

  • Eating a high fibre diet that is fat and cholesterol heavy and also low in fibre.

Uncontrollable risk factors

  • Being Female

  • Belonging to the Native American race

  • Being over 40

  • Belonging to the Hispanic and Mexican ethnicity

  • Having liver disease

  • Gallstones can lead to different types of complications they are mentioned below:

Complications

  • Inflamed gallbladder: The inflammation of the gallbladder can be very painful and even cause fever. The inflammation is caused when a gallstone is created at the neck of the gallbladder. The gallstone stops the flow of bile out of your liver and causes the inflammation of the gallbladder.

  • Gallbladder cancer: Gallbladder cancer is a condition that affects people that have a history of gallstones. This type of cancer is highly rare, and even with a history of gallstones, the probability of being affected by gallbladder cancer remains considerably low.

Treatment

Gallstones: Symptoms

The treatment of gallstones is commonly done through surgery. However, it is possible that you might not need surgery. This is because, more often than not, gallstones do not show any symptoms or pain. People often pass their stones without feeling any pain. In case you are feeling pain from gallstones, doctors might recommend getting surgery. In rare cases, even medicinal treatment is used for curing gallstones.

Diet

For dietary practices maintaining a low fat and cholesterol diet is one of the key factors to protect yourself from the risk of gallstones. Gallstones often contain mostly cholesterol, so it is essential to maintain the cholesterol levels in your body. Avoiding food that can increase your cholesterol levels can help you keep your gallstone risk in check.