Gallstones: What You Need to Know



Gallstones are small, hardened deposits of digestive fluid that can form in your gallbladder. While they are usually harmless, they can cause pain and other symptoms. It’s important to know the signs and symptoms of gallstones, as well as how to prevent them and treat them if they occur.

Symptoms of Gallstones

The most common symptom of gallstones is a sudden, sharp pain in the upper right side or middle of your abdomen. This pain may spread to your back or shoulder blade area. Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting, fever, jaundice (yellowing of the skin), clay-colored stools, and dark urine. If you experience any combination of these symptoms for more than a few hours it’s important to contact your doctor right away.

Causes & Risk Factors
Gallstones form when there is an imbalance between certain components in bile (a digestive fluid stored in the gallbladder). Too much cholesterol or bilirubin (a yellow pigment) can cause stones to form from hardened bile deposits. Certain factors increase your risk for developing gallstones including being overweight or obese; having diabetes; having high levels of triglycerides in the blood; being over 40 years old; eating a high-fat diet; taking certain medications such as birth control pills; being female; having had gastric bypass surgery or other abdominal surgeries; being Native American or Mexican American descent; and having a family history of gallstone disease.

Prevention & Treatment
Making lifestyle changes such as eating a healthy diet low in fat and cholesterol can help reduce your risk for developing gallstones. Losing weight if you are overweight may also help reduce your risk for developing stones by reducing the amount of cholesterol in bile that could lead to stone formation. If you develop symptomatic gallstones, treatment will depend on how severe they are and may include medications such as ursodiol which helps dissolve small stones without surgery or shock wave lithotripsy which uses sound waves to break up larger stones so they can pass out through stool more easily. In some cases surgery may be necessary if there is an infection present with the stones or if there is blockage preventing proper digestion from occurring due to large stones present within the ducts leading out from the gallbladder itself.

It's important for anyone who experiences any combination of these symptoms for more than a few hours at a time to contact their doctor right away so that appropriate tests can be done and treatment options considered based on individual needs and health history information provided by each patient’s physician at that time .

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Gallstones, digestive fluid, pain, symptoms, nausea, vomiting, fever, jaundice, clay-colored stools, dark urine, cholesterol, bilirubin yellow pigment deposits bile imbalance obesity diabetes triglycerides family history healthy diet low fat cholesterol overweight gastric bypass surgery shock wave lithotripsy sound waves blockage infection treatment options,

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