What Are Gallstones?

Gallstones are hardened deposits of digestive fluid that can form in your gallbladder. Your gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ on the right side of your abdomen, just beneath your liver. It stores bile produced by your liver. Bile helps you digest fats.

Gallstones range in size from as small as a grain of sand to as large as a golf ball. Some people develop just one large stone, while others may have hundreds of tiny stones that form together into one larger stone. The most common type of gallstone is made up primarily of cholesterol, but other substances such as calcium salts and bilirubin can also contribute to their formation.

The exact cause of gallstones is not known, but certain risk factors are associated with an increased likelihood for developing them:
• Being female
• Being over the age of 40
• Having a family history or personal history of gallstones
• Being overweight or obese
• Eating a diet high in fat and cholesterol
• Having diabetes or metabolic syndrome
• Taking certain medications such as birth control pills or estrogen replacement therapy

Symptoms associated with Gallstones include pain in the upper right abdomen that may be steady and severe; nausea; vomiting; fever; jaundice (yellowing skin); clay-colored stools; dark urine; and indigestion after eating fatty foods. If left untreated, Gallstone complications can include inflammation or infection in the gallbladder (cholecystitis), obstruction at the opening from the gallbladder into the intestine (biliary colic), blockage at the opening from bile ducts into intestines (cholangitis), pancreatitis, and jaundice due to blocked bile ducts.

Treatment for Gallstones typically depends on their size and severity: smaller stones may pass naturally through stool without any treatment needed, while larger ones may require surgical removal via laparoscopic cholecystectomy (removal of entire gallbladder). Medications such as Ursodiol can also be used to dissolve some types of stones over time if surgery isn't an option due to medical conditions like pregnancy or advanced age. In addition to these treatments, lifestyle changes such as eating a healthier diet low in fat and cholesterol can help reduce risk for future Gallstone formation.

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Gallstones, bile, cholesterol, calcium salts, bilirubin, female, age 40+, family history/personal history of gallstones, overweight/obese, high fat/cholesterol diet, diabetes/metabolic syndrome, medications (birth control pills/estrogen replacement therapy), pain in upper right abdomen nausea vomiting fever jaundice clay-colored stools dark urine indigestion after eating fatty foods cholecystitis biliary colic cholangitis pancreatitis laparoscopic cholecystectomy Ursodiol diet low in fat and cholesterol,

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