Every year, an increasing number of people, turning to doctors, find in their gallstone disease. What it is? This is when, due to a violation of the exchange of cholesterol and bilirubin, clots form in the cavity of the gallbladder, which subsequently turn into stones. The outflow of bile in the gallbladder slows down, which significantly affects human health. According to statistics, after 40 years, gallstone disease affects 35% of women and 17% of men.
Why do stones appear in the gallbladder? The development of this disease occurs gradually. This is facilitated by a sedentary lifestyle, long breaks between meals, overeating, excessive consumption of cold desserts and carbonated drinks, fatty and spicy foods. There are cases of the disease with psychological stress and emotional stress. In addition, a predisposition to this disease is observed in people suffering from diabetes and obesity. We cannot exclude heredity from the list, especially this is observed along the female side.
In the initial stages, gallstones for a long time do not make themselves felt, and can come to light as an accidental find during an ultrasound scan. With a more advanced form, they are manifested by attacks of both dull and acute pains in the right side of the epigastric region, bitterness in the mouth. In some cases, nausea is observed. However, the symptoms of this disease may also mask other diseases. So, for example, there may be pressing pain in the lumbar region or pain in the heart.
There are patients who believe that small stones in the gallbladder do not pose a great danger. However, this is a misconception. Undoubtedly, large stones can lead to the formation of pressure sores and breakthrough of the gallbladder. But small stones are insidious in their own way. They can migrate to the bile ducts, where they can simply become stuck at the level of inflow into the duodenum. This leads to the development of an acute attack of cholecystitis. It must always be remembered that if stones appeared, then they would never disappear on their own, and the presence of even small formations already indicates that there is a malfunction in the gall bladder.
How to get rid of gallstones? One way to overcome this disease is to dissolve the stones with medication. For these purposes, drugs based on ursodeoxycholic and chenodeoxycholic acids can be used. It should be noted that with the help of these drugs it is possible to have an effect only on cholesterol stones and then not to completely dissolve, but to reduce them in size. This process is very long, because with the constant use of these drugs, the decrease is only 1 mm per month. In addition, the dissolution of stones must be carried out while maintaining the work of the gallbladder. It is necessary that he continues to contract normally and remove bile. In the event of acute inflammatory diseases of the gallbladder or with liver diseases, stomach and intestinal ulcers, dissolving stones is contraindicated.
The second method of treatment is crushing stones in the gallbladder. This is done using the remote lithotripsy method, which consists in exposing a stone to a large number of shock waves. As a result, the substance decomposes into smaller fragments that leave the human body through the bile ducts. However, there is one “but”. Before impacting the stones, they, as a rule, have an even shape and quite smooth. With proper nutrition, a person practically does not feel them. And after fragmentation, a mass of fragments appears in the gallbladder, which provoke pain, sometimes quite strong. Therefore, in most cases, surgical removal of the gallbladder is recommended.