Take the Gallstone Quiz
Gallstones can be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a golf ball (ouch!). How much do you know about gallstones? Find out when you take this quiz, based on information from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
Gallstones are made of hardened cholesterol.
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Cholesterol stones are usually yellow-green and account for about 80 percent of gallstones. Gallstones that are small and dark are made of bilirubin, a substance found in bile, and are called pigment stones.
The gallbladder is part of the biliary system.
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The biliary system is made up of the gallbladder and the ducts that carry bile and other digestive enzymes from the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas to the small intestine. Bile is made in the liver and is stored in the gallbladder until the body needs to digest fat.
Gallstones become a problem if they block a bile duct.
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A gallstone can trap bile in the hepatic ducts, which carry bile out of the liver; the cystic duct, which takes bile to and from the gallbladder; and the common bile duct, which takes bile from the cystic and hepatic ducts to the small intestines. A blocked duct can cause inflammation in the gallbladder, the ducts, or, rarely, the liver.
Pancreatitis results when digestive enzymes are blocked in the common bile duct.
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Pancreatitis is an extremely painful inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreatic duct opens into the commong bile duct.
Although gallstones can be painful, they aren't a life-threatening condition.
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If any of the bile ducts remain blocked for a significant period of time, severe—possibly fatal—damage can occur, affecting the gallbladder, liver, or pancreas.
Obesity is a major risk factor for gallstones, especially in women.
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Even being only moderately overweight increases a person's risk for developing gallstones. The most likely reason is that obesity tends to reduce the amount of bile salts in bile, resulting in more cholesterol. Gallstones are believed to form when the bile contains too much cholesterol.
Americans of Mediterranean descent are more likely to develop gallstones.
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American Indians have a genetic predisposition to secrete high levels of cholesterol in bile. In fact, they have the highest rates of gallstones in the United States.
If you take medicine to lower your cholesterol, you have also reduced your risk of developing gallstones.
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Drugs that lower cholesterol levels in blood actually increase the amount of cholesterol secreted in bile. This in turn can increase the risk of gallstones.
Pain in the back between the shoulder blades is a symptom of a gallstone attack.
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Other symptoms include steady, severe pain in the upper abdomen that increases rapidly and lasts from 30 minutes to several hours; pain under the right shoulder; nausea or vomiting; fever and chills.
Gallstone attacks are most likely to occur first thing in the morning.
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Gallstone attacks often follow fatty meals, and they may occur during the night.
Some gallstones never cause problems.
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Many people with gallstones have no symptoms. These patients are said to be asymptomatic, and these stones are called "silent stones." They do not interfere in gallbladder, liver, or pancreas function and do not need treatment.
Each year, about 100,000 Americans require surgery to remove the gallbladder.
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The number is much higher—500,000 Americans. The standard surgery is called laparoscopic cholecystectomy. For this operation, the surgeon makes several tiny incisions in the abdomen and inserts surgical instruments and a miniature video camera into the abdomen. The surgeon uses the instruments to carefully separate the gallbladder from the liver, ducts, and other structures. Then the cystic duct is cut and the gallbladder removed through one of the small incisions.
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