When should you seek care for gallstones?

Health

When should you seek care for gallstones?

If your body were a business, your gallbladder would be one of the crucial workers who makes things run smoothly without much fanfare.

Your gallbladder is a small organ tucked behind your liver that contributes to your digestive system. It releases a compound, known as bile, that enters the small intestine just below its junction with the stomach. Bile works as an emulsifier, breaking down fat so your body can process it more efficiently.

Bile is made up of a mix of water, acids and other chemicals, including cholesterol. As long as those components stay in balance, the system runs as it should.

“If you lose this balance, you develop gallstones,” says Dr. Raif Elsakr, a gastroenterologist at Tidelands Health Gastroenterology at The Market Common. “Gallstones are commonly formed by cholesterol precipitating out of the bile, like having too much salt in water.”

A number of things can throw the gallbladder out of balance, such as hormone changes during pregnancy, diabetes and obesity. Rapid weight loss can also lead people to develop gallstones.

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But the primary culprit is a diet high in fat, which can overload the system with cholesterol. When that happens, cholesterol starts to collect into gallstones — ranging in size from as small as a grain of sand to as big as a golf ball.

Once they form, gallstones don’t go away. To guard against developing them or making an existing problem worse, Dr. Elsakr says it’s important to reduce the amount of fat in your diet, keep your diabetes in check and lose weight if you have obesity.

On the plus side, as long as they don’t move in or out of the gallbladder, gallstones aren’t usually a problem.

The National Institutes of Health estimates that 10 to 15 percent of the U.S. population has gallstones. Of 25 million people with gallstones, about 1 million will need surgery to deal with them, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Gallstones become a problem when they become large enough to block the ducts that transport bile and other compounds into the digestive system. A blocked gallbladder will become swollen and inflamed and must be removed.

Because the gallbladder’s outlet connects to ducts leading from the liver and the pancreas, gallstones also have the potential to disrupt the functioning of those two other key organs.

Signs that you may have gallstones

Signs that things are going wrong in your gallbladder are likely to show up when you go to the bathroom. If your urine is dark or your feces is light in color, you could have problems in your gallbladder.

The most reliable indicator of a gallstone problem is abdominal pain two to four hours after you eat a heavy meal. That’s how long it takes for your stomach to break down food and start moving it into your intestines. That movement triggers the gallbladder to release its compounds.

If gallstones are blocking that path, pain results, Dr. Elsakr says.

Gallstone pain can sometimes be mistaken for other problems, such as heartburn or a heart attack. As the problem progresses, the pain can be associated with fever, nausea and vomiting.

The bottom line? 

A gallbladder attack is serious and needs prompt treatment. In most cases, that means minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery to remove the impacted gallbladder.

Seek immediate care if you have any of these symptoms:

  • Pain that is progressive and not improving
  • Sweating
  • Chills
  • Fever
  • Yellowish color of the skin or whites of the eyes
  • Clay-colored stools and/or dark urine
  • Nausea and vomiting

If you have symptoms of gallstones or problems with your gallbladder, schedule an appointment with Tidelands Health Gastroenterology by calling 1-866-TIDELANDS.

Dr. Raif Elsakr, board-certified gastroenterologist, specializes in diagnosing and treating a variety of digestive health conditions, including Barrett’s esophagus, gastroesophageal reflux disease, celiac disease, cirrhosis, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, pancreatitis and more. Dr. Elsakr sees patients at Tidelands Health Gastroenterology at The Market Common and is fluent in English and Arabic.

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