What Are Main Gall Bladder Symptoms and Diseases

The gallbladder is a small sac located just below the right side of the liver and above the pancreas. It is connected to the liver, small intestine and other parts of the digestive system through the common bile duct. The size of the gallbladder is approximately 8 cm in length and 4 cm in diameter.

The gallbladder stores bile, a dark yellowish fluid produced by the liver. When food enters the digestive system, the gallbladder contracts and releases large quantities of bile to the small intestine to help in digesting fats.

Gallbladder Diseases

Abnormalities happen in the digestive system when gallstones form in the gallbladder. Gallstones are mainly composed of cholesterol. The presence of gallstones in the gallbladder is called cholelithiasis. Small gallstones can be treated by an oral medication while bigger ones result in the removal of the gallbladder.

When gallstones go out of the gallbladder into one or more of the ducts, especially the opening of the cystic duct, they block the outflow of bile during digestion. The blockage may cause an inflammation of the gallbladder and pain in the right abdomen. This condition is called choledocholithiasis.

Gall Bladder Symptoms

Gall bladder symptoms usually attack during the night or after eating a meal, especially meals consisting of fatty foods. The existence of gallstones in the gallbladder may lead to cholecystitis, an inflammation and infection of the gallbladder due to intestinal microorganisms. Presence in other parts of the digestive system may cause obstruction of bile ducts, which can lead to acute cholangitis or pancreatitis.

Gallstones are not life threatening but require immediate medical attention like in the case of appendicitis. Gallstones are asymptomatic; they can exist for years or decades in a patient?s body without experiencing any gall bladder symptoms.

Gallstone sizes range from a grain of sand to a golf ball. Gall bladder symptoms only appear when the stones get too large. The most indicative of gall bladder symptoms is pain in the right rib cage, which intensifies in several hours.

Here is a list of known gall bladder symptoms:

  • Pain in the right abdomen, back or just under the right arm and shoulder
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Indigestion
  • Bloating
  • Gas
  • Burping
  • Feeling of fullness
  • Intolerance of fatty foods
  • Diarrhea
  • Constipation
  • Headache
  • Taste of bitterness in the mouth
  • Light-colored stool
  • Yellow eyes and skin

The gall bladder symptoms presented here could be of another disease. If you are experiencing some of these gall bladder symptoms, and if the gall bladder symptoms are accompanied by fever, you may be having a gallbladder attack. A gallbladder attack resembles a kidney stone attack and it may last from minutes to hours. A gallbladder attack requires emergency ERCP (Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography) or cholecystectomy. Call your doctor at once if you feel these gall bladder symptoms.

Causes of Gall bladder symptoms

Overweight people are the most at risk in developing gallstones as well as those who are 40 years and above. The risk increases as one ages. Here are other risk factors for gallstones:

  • Genetics
  • Overweight or obesity
  • Rapid weight loss
  • Hypothyroidism
  • Race
  • Pregnancy
  • High-fat/high-cholesterol diet
  • Being female (80% of people with gallstones are women)
  • Food allergies
  • Estrogen
  • Chronic heartburn

Gallbladder diseases can be inherited from first-degree relatives (especially parents or siblings) or brought about by one?s race. Gallstones are more common in the US and Europe than in Asia. Another cause of gallbladder diseases may be the body?s natural chemistry or makeup.

A diet full of fats and low in fiber also increases the risk. Foods that contribute to the formation of gallstones are starchy foods and high-cholesterol foods such as processed meats and oily fishes.

Types of Gallstones

There are many types of gallstones. Cholesterol and pigment gallstones are the most prevalent. Cholesterol gallstones are the most common type of gallstones. Cholesterol gallstone is the result of excess cholesterol found in the gallbladder. These cholesterols come from the liver along with bile. When the amount of cholesterol is larger than the amount of bile, bile can?t dissolve it all and the excess cholesterol forms and accretes in the gallbladder.

Pigment gallstones, on the other hand, are classified as black and brown pigment gallstones. Pigment is a waste from the hemoglobin passed into the blood, which is converted to bilirubin and eventually disposed of through the liver. Bilirubin is secreted to the gallbladder and forms gallstones the same way as cholesterol does. Black pigment gallstones are black and hard. Brown pigment gallstones are brown and soft.

Treatment of Gall bladder symptoms

Gallstones in adults 65 years and above are not treated because they are less likely to develop gall bladder symptoms while treatment involving surgery is not an option for people with serious or life-threatening diseases such as heart disease. In healthy people, cholecystectomy (removal of the gallbladder) and sphincterotomy are done to take out gallstones. In patients with smaller gallstones, ursodeoxycholic acid or orsodiol is prescribed although it cannot break pigment gallstones and takes years to fully dissolve stones.

 

 

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