There is Hungarian folk wisdom that draws a parallel between illness and the difficulties of everyday life caused by illness. Gallstones and biliary diseases can make our days really unpleasant, but we can do a lot to prevent them with a healthy lifestyle and screening.
Gallstones affect 15% of the European population and are common over the age of 40, especially in women. While the disease affects only 2.5% of people between the ages of 20 and 30, the proportion increases tenfold between the ages of 60 and 65. In most cases, gallstones cause no symptoms for many years, but then at an unexpected moment, painful gallstones and even bile duct obstruction can develop. Typical symptoms include pain after meals under the right rib cage, stomach pain, nausea, but pain from the stones can also radiate to the shoulder. Severe symptoms usually last for a few minutes, but rarely there may be a long spasmodic attack lasting several hours.
Obesity or even excessive fasting can be a trigger
Bile is largely made up of water, which contains substances such as bile acid, cholesterol and phospholipids. If the ratio is altered, it can lead to gallstones. In most cases, the culprit is an ‘excess’ of cholesterol, so gallstones are largely due to poor diet, but they can also be caused by a disturbance in liver function. Interestingly, although obesity plays an important role in the development of the disease, fasting and drastic weight loss can also increase the risk of gallstones. In such cases, cholesterol is released from the liver into the gallbladder, where it can deposit in the form of stones. Certain diseases, such as diabetes, Crohn’s disease, cirrhosis of the liver can increase the risk of gallstones.
Laparoscopic removal
Surgical intervention may be needed to relieve or remove recurrent gallstones. The most common procedure for patients is laparoscopic gall bladder removal, and because of its low risk, some doctors recommend it as a preventive strategy even in the absence of symptoms. However, it is good to know that cholesterol-type gallstones can now be crushed using a specially developed tool, thanks to advanced medical science. This means that, fortunately, surgery is not necessary to remove gallstones.
What can we do to prevent it?
If we aim to maintain a healthy weight, eat a diet low in cholesterol and spices, and avoid foods that are too high in fat or refined flour and over-processed foods, we have already done a lot to avoid developing biliary diseases. Even in the absence of complaints, a simple screening test to check the efficiency of our liver and biliary functions is worthwhile to get an idea of possible abnormalities before symptoms appear.
Book an appointment today for one of HR-Pharma’s laboratory test packages and get an up-to-date picture of your body condition.
It is important that laboratory results should always be evaluated by a specialist, along with the clinical picture.