Causes of cholelithiasis

Gallstone disease is a common disease today, in which gallstones form in the gallbladder or ducts. Most often, it affects people with excessive body weight, especially women, and with age, the incidence of the disease is increasing.

Causes of cholelithiasis ^

As it is known, the human liver continuously produces bile, without which the process of digestion is impossible. But, since the need for bile arises only when we take food, then all the rest of the time it needs to be stored somewhere.

It is such a reservoir for storage of bile is a gallbladder - a small hollow sac( about 100 gr), connected with the liver with the help of ducts, through which bile enters the gallbladder. As soon as we start eating, the gallbladder walls contract and push bile through the ducts into the duodenum for further participation in the digestive process.

According to the doctors, the causes of cholelithiasis are malnutrition, infections, hereditary factors and hypodynamia, when the motor function of the gall bladder decreases and it can not fully perform its work and completely empty. As a result, bile becomes thick and viscous, loses moisture and stones form from it. In addition, a frequent cause of cholelithiasis becomes pregnancy due to the hormonal changes in the body of the future mother.

Earlier among doctors there was an opinion that, since the gallbladder does not produce any enzymes on its own and is only a storage for bile, it can be easily removed when needed, and when not needed. But this opinion is erroneous, after all, as is known, there is nothing superfluous in our body, every organ was created for something. For example, an appendix, which for a long time was considered an unnecessary and problematic organ and massively removed by Americans in infants, turned out to be a place of colonization of useful intestinal microflora.

No need to treat lightly to the gallbladder, because failures in his work can greatly affect our health and well-being. According to scientists, in our body there are only two places in which excess bad cholesterol drops out - the bile ducts and the walls of blood vessels. In the absence of the gallbladder, the amount of cholesterol precipitated in the blood vessels sharply increases, which significantly increases the risk of atherosclerosis. In addition, after the operation to remove the gallbladder, you will need a lifelong observance of the therapeutic diet.

Symptoms of cholelithiasis ^

The main symptoms of cholelithiasis, which you need to pay attention to immediately and see a doctor - nausea, vomiting, pain in the right upper quadrant, heaviness in the epigastric region, heartburn, bitterness in the mouth, and yellowing of the sclera of the eyes and skin. In the absence of timely treatment, there may be such dangerous complications as peritonitis( when the inflammatory process spreads to the abdominal cavity), perforation of the gallbladder, abscess of the peritoneum, and as a result a toxic shock that can lead to death.

But fortunately, the peculiarity of cholelithiasis is that often people do not realize that they have gallstones because of the lack of clinical signs and quite normal state of health. Only in some patients there is a belching after eating, nausea and bloating, which disappear after switching to a dairy - vegetable diet. Therefore, the stones found on ultrasound are a complete surprise to many. Because of this, cholelithiasis is often called a symptom-free disease, but with complications.

Gallstones can lie for a long time without moving, without letting themselves know. If they move and go into the bile ducts, then there comes an attack of biliary colic with sharp pain in the right hypochondrium, often with nausea, vomiting and bitterness in the mouth. Sometimes everything can end favorably - if a gallstone of a small size passes through the ducts and falls into the duodenum, the attack will stop itself. But often the situation becomes critical - the stone sticks in the bile duct, clogging it and thereby causing inflammation of the gallbladder, which is life-threatening and requires immediate surgery.

Prevention of cholelithiasis ^

If you do not have any symptoms of cholelithiasis and the stones behave calmly, then you do not need to remove the gallbladder, it is enough to carry out preventive measures and use popular methods of treatment that do not allow exacerbations of the disease. Prevention of cholelithiasis includes weight normalization, moderate balanced diet, sufficient drinking regimen, refusal from fasting, diets and irregular intake of food, as well as moderate physical activity.

• Often an attack of biliary colic occurs a few hours after eating plentiful and fatty foods, sometimes after a long ride on a rough road with jolting. Therefore, it is extremely necessary to normalize your weight and minimize to the menu fatty and sweet dishes, fast food products, there are more vegetables, fruits, whole grains cereals, greens, fermented milk products. Vegetables and fruits, thanks to the presence of fiber in their composition, contribute to a good separation of bile, improve the work of the intestines, remove excess cholesterol and prevent the formation of stones.
• Do not overeat, it is better to eat more often and gradually, because a single intake of large amounts of food requires a large amount of bile, which will cause the gallbladder to shrink greatly and can provoke severe pain. Food should be balanced, in the diet must necessarily be present foods containing protein - lean meat, fish, cheese, cottage cheese.
• Do not exclude from your menu fats, they are extremely necessary for the prevention of cholelithiasis, as well stimulate the outflow of bile from the gallbladder. The best choleretic effect is the vegetable oil.
• Do not drink cold drinks, especially fizzy drinks. Daily drink at least 2 liters of ordinary water, and tea, coffee, cola and other diuretic caffeinated drinks from your diet, remove, as they cause dehydration and provoke stone formation.
• Long-term starvation of patients with cholelithiasis is contraindicated, as they can cause movement of stones and blockage of ducts. Immediately after eating, do not take the horizontal position, because often erosion and stomach ulcers occur because in this position the bile secreted for digestion in the duodenum can easily be poured into the stomach and cause inflammation of its mucosa.

People with cholelithiasis are not opposed to exercise and sports, except that only sports related to jumping. Moderate physical activity, especially walking, improves the motor activity of the gallbladder well, which prevents the stagnation of bile in it and the formation of new gallstones.