Stones in the gallbladder - symptoms

The appearance of symptoms that testify to gallstones - concrements - is often an unpleasant surprise for many. Their presence suggests the development of cholelithiasis or cholecystolithiasis. If earlier such ailments met mainly among the elderly, today already about 20% of patients have not reached the age of thirty.

Symptoms and signs of gallstones

Stones in the gallbladder differ in some ways:

• number (multiple or single);
• composition (pigment, cholesterol or mixed);
• size;
• location.

Some people encounter a situation where even with large gallstones, no symptoms appear. In such cases, they are usually recognized after X-ray or ultrasound examination. To other patients, even the smallest formations can significantly complicate everyday life. They provoke:

• pains of different strength in the right hypochondrium, which are often given in the hand, clavicle or part of the back (they are also hardly palpable and pronounced);
• the appearance of bitterness in the mouth;
• nausea;
• vomiting;
• bloating.

In some cases, the disease occurs atypically. Instead of pain in the abdomen, there are unpleasant sensations in the left side of the chest, which are very similar in their signs to angina pectoris - a common cardiovascular disease.

Usually, symptoms and seizures due to gallstones appear after:

• eating fatty foods;
• various types of stress;
• physical exertion;
• trips in the transport on a rough road.

The longer the stones are in the gallbladder, the more they injure the mucous membrane, which leads to inflammation - calculous cholecystitis. It is accompanied by fever, rapid fatigue and poor appetite. This ailment is not contagious, so people suffering from it do not pose any danger to others.

Physicians believe that concrements begin to form when a combination of factors:

• large amounts of calcium, cholesterol or pigment in bile;
• inflammation of the bladder;
• reduction of contractility, which is accompanied by stagnation of bile.

These conditions usually appear when:

• obesity;
• frequent childbirth;
• admission of female hormones;
• hereditary predisposition;
• living in a cold climate;
• treatment with drugs such as Octreotide and Clifibrate;
• calorie diet with a minimum amount of fiber;
• rapid weight loss;
• some diseases - diabetes, liver cirrhosis, Crohn's disease ;
• certain types of surgical intervention.

Prevention of pathology

To prevent disease and even symptoms of stones in the gallbladder, you need:

1. With excess weight, use only a low-calorie diet in combination with constant physical exertion, so that the mass decreases gradually.
2. It is advisable to refuse fried and fatty foods.
3. Women, prone to the formation of concrements, it is desirable to abandon hormonal treatment.
4. It is important to reduce the intake of cholesterol in the body.

Diagnostic procedures

There are several main types of research, with the help of which concrements:

1. Ultrasound is the main method by which up to 95% of the stones are determined, their location and size.
2. X-rays allow you to see only formations with calcium.
3. CT scan.
4. Inspection of a qualified doctor. The doctor will be able to determine the presence of gallstones, tell them how they come out, and what are the symptoms. Such consultation will help to prevent the emergence of unpleasant situations in the future.