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Gallbladder Disease

Women are twice as likely as men to suffer an attack

Aug 21, 2007

Learn how to prevent Gallbladder Disease and what symptoms to look for.

You’ve just finished eating a high fat meal. You feel pain in your abdomen or under your right arm, followed by nausea or vomiting. You could be suffering from a gallbladder attack. Often, treating the disease means removing the gallbladder.

You can live without this pear shaped organ. But you still need to know what the symptoms are and when to see a doctor.

Your gallbladder is located just under the liver. It stores a liquid, called bile, that helps your body digest fat. When the liquid hardens and produces a pebble-like substance, it’s called a gallstone. Too much cholesterol in the bile may be partly to blame. Excess estrogen from pregnancy, birth control pills, or hormone replacement therapy may lead to excess cholesterol levels in bile.

Who is susceptible to gallbladder disease?

In the Family.

Excess weight. Even moderately over weight women have an increased risk of developing gallstones

High fat/low fiber diet. Diets high in fat and cholesterol and low in fiber may increase the cholesterol level in your bile.
Increased risk with age. People (especially women) over 60 secrete more cholesterol into their bile
Ethnicity. American Indians and Mexican Americans have an increased risk of developing gallstones
Diabetes. People with diabetes have an increased level of triglycerides, which could predispose them to gallstones.

What are the symptoms?

Many people with gallbladder disease experience no symptoms. Doctors often diagnose the problem when they are running tests for other conditions. If you are experiencing a gallbladder attack usually after eating a high fat meal, you might feel pain in your upper right abdomen that doesn’t go away. Or you might feel pain between your shoulder blades or under your right arm. See a doctor immediately if you experience any of the following symptoms:

Prolonged pain for more than five hours
Nausea and Vomiting
Fever or chills
Skin yellowing or yellowing of the whites of your eyes
Clay-colored stools

Treatment

If your doctor suspects gallstones he/she will most likely perform an ultrasound. If you are experiencing frequent gallbladder attacks, your doctor will probably recommend surgery. Your Gallbladder is not essential, and this surgery is one of the most common on adults in the U.S. It’s called a Cholecystectomy and is a laparoscopic procedure. You might need to spend one night in the hospital but you will probably be back to normal in a few days.

Sources: National Digestive Diseases Information Clearing House, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health

The copyright of the article Gallbladder Disease in Women’s Health is owned by L. Marie Dubuque. Permission to republish Gallbladder Disease in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.