Gallstones
What are gallstones?
What is gallstones?
Gallstones occur when the body's own solidified constituents, for example, cholesterol or protein, clump together in the gall bladder or bile duct. Gallstone is the most common and important disease of the gallbladder and bile ducts. Most other diseases of the biliary tract arise from gallstones.
About 15 to 25 percent of adults suffer from gallstones (medical term: cholelithiasis). However, the gallstones only cause about one in four persons concerned to complain. Women are affected about three times as often as men. The risk factors for gallstones include overweight or obesity, and especially elevated blood lipids (cholesterol).
The diagnosis of gallstones is done primarily on the basis of the complaint description and appeal by an ultrasound examination (sonography). Sometimes, however, further tests such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or a mirroring of the gall bladder and bile ducts (endoscopic) are necessary.
Article From: Gallstonessymptoms.net
Created: 2011-12-02
Last update: 2012-01-07