Gallbladder Disease

The gallbladder only has one purpose and that is to store bile that builds up and which helps the body digest fats in the small intestine. However, gallbladder disease is quite common and it can cause great discomfort and pain. The best way to treat such a disease is to remove the organ itself and this is now the most frequent kind of surgery for organ removal and it is considered to be major.  

Basically, gallbladder disease is when the organ becomes thick and concentrated and as a result gallstones are produced. The disease ends up with an inflammation of the gallbladder or stones and in some cases even both of those. When this stage of the disease has been reached, a gallbladder attack happens. This is very painful because at least one gallstone blocks the bile from leaving or it ends up traveling to the liver. The pain is on the right side of the body and attacks have been known to last for up to fifteen hours. In some cases the pain is so severe that it is perceived to be in the right shoulder area and can even be as excruciating as the pains that a heart attack would cause. 

There are many factors that make someone more prone to having gallbladder disease. Women suffer from this disease more often than men and this is due in many cases to excess estrogen. The disease can also be inherited and gallstones are more likely to form in people that are older than sixty. Another major factor in the development of gallbladder disease is obesity. This is because those with too much weight have super-saturated bile which increases the formation of gallstones. 

Having gallbladder disease does not mean that by the first symptom a surgical removal procedure will have to be performed. Most of the time there are no symptoms at all and in many cases the disease only results only in mild complaints such as gas, indigestion or nausea. The complete removal of the gallbladder is only really necessary if the pain is chronic, the gallstones are constantly blocking the bile, severe pain, jaundice appears and fever accompanies the symptoms.