Gallstone Causes

We will discuss the cause of gallstones in the gallbladder, called cholelithiasis. In the gallbladder, concretions can form in the biliary tract, which are called gallstones. Gallstones form in the gallbladder, an organ storing the bile excreted by the liver and metering it out to the small intestine as needed to digest fats. Some complications of gallbladder disease can include gallstone ileus, biliary cirrhosis, gallstone pancreatitis, and gallbladder cancer.

Gallstones can be as small as a single grain of sand or as big as one inch in diameter: the size depends on how long the gallstone has been forming. If a gallstone blocks the opening to the cystic duct or gallbladder, biliary colic symptoms appear, felt as a cramping in the upper right abdomine.

If the stone doesn't move into the duodenum, but blocks the way to the cystic duct, acute cholecystitis can develop. This has been happening more and more, even in children. In children, cholesterol gallstones may be brown or black pigmented or mixed.

In the gall bladder, gallstone can cause inflammation and irritation of the mucosa, which results in chronic calculous cholecystitis and biliary colic symptoms. Chronic gallbladder problems can cause fibrosis and loss of gallbladder function, and it may even lead to gallbladder cancer. Cholecystectomy or gallbladder surgery to remove gallstones or the gallbladder is the surgical procedure most often performed.

Some causes of gallstones are high levels of bad cholesterol, acute gallstone pancreatitis, and retroperitoneal hemorrhage. The internet has a wealth of information about gallstone causes and treatments.

If you can discover gallstones early, you have a good chance of eliminating them without surgery. Search the internet so you can better understand what the doctor is advising you when you see him.

Diet can keep gall stones from forming:
Lecithin helps homogenize the bad cholesterol, especially in the gall bladder, so lecithin supplements, along with Vitamin E are often advised. Eggs used to be recommended against, because they contain cholesterol, but newer studies are showing that their high levels of lecithin more than offset the cholesterol content.

Your doctor can test you and advise if you have any risk of gallstones, so he is your best place to start. Lecithin helps homogenize the cholesterol in the bile, to prevent gall stone formation, so it, along with vitamin E, and a diet with fewer animal products, like meat and milk, and more raw fruits, salads, and other vegetables can directly reduce the risks of bad cholesterol and gall stones

If you are diagnosed with gallstones, your physician will advise you of the alternative treatments for gallstones. You will have to decide which treatment is best for you. Hopefully, you will have time to consider some of the natural treatments, and won't require surgery because of complications that can't wait.

You may also like to read more about controlling cholesterol, which is part of the gall stone problem, at Cholesterol Healing .com.

This article was written by Jim Krage of Healing Energy News .com.