what are Gall Stones?

Answer 1

What are gallstones?
Gallstones are deposits like small stones that form in bile, which is a fluid that helps you digest food. Gallstones can be smaller than a grain of sand or as large as a golf ball.

They do not cause problems unless they block a tube (duct) leading from the gallbladder to other organs. When this happens, you may have sudden abdominal pain and other symptoms.

What causes gallstones?
Gallstones develop when cholesterol and other substances that make up bile harden into crystals. They can also form if the gallbladder does not empty properly.

What are the symptoms?
Most people who have gallstones do not have symptoms and do not need treatment. If symptoms develop, they are usually mild and are rarely life-threatening.

The main symptom is often pain in the pit of the stomach or in the upper right part of the belly, under the ribs. Pain sometimes spreads to the right upper back or shoulder blade area. See an illustration of the abdominal quadrants.

Pain from gallstones can range from mild to severe and may cause vomiting. Pain may be steady or may come and go, and it may get worse when you eat. Vomiting and a fever may mean that a stone is completely blocking a duct, which usually requires surgery to remove the gallbladder. Gallstones that block a tube called the common bile duct can cause yellow skin (jaundice) and yellow in the white part of the eyes, dark urine, and light-colored stools.

Symptoms of gallstones may be similar to chest pain caused by a heart attack and other serious conditions. If you have severe symptoms such as intense or sudden abdominal or chest pain, you may need to see a health professional immediately.

How are gallstones diagnosed?
Tests that take pictures of the inside of your body (imaging tests) are the main way to diagnose gallstones. Often, gallstones are found by accident when a person has tests to find the cause of abdominal pain or when a woman has an ultrasound during pregnancy.

An abdominal ultrasound is the best test to find gallstones or problems caused by gallstones. In this test, a technologist moves a wand across your belly to create pictures on a video monitor.

If an ultrasound does not show gallstones but your health professional still thinks you have a problem with your gallbladder, you may have a hepatobiliary (HIDA) scan. This test uses an injection of dye and a special type of scan to view your entire bile system.

Other imaging tests that you may need are an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatogram (ERCP), which also can be used to remove gallstones from the common bile duct, and a magnetic resonance cholangiogram (MRC).

How are they treated?
Surgery to remove the gallbladder is the most common treatment for gallstones that cause symptoms. Although medicines and other procedures are sometimes used to treat gallstones, they are often not very helpful and may take a long time to work.

If your first gallstone attack is mild, the "wait and see" approach may be your best option. In many cases, the pain will go away on its own, and you may never have a problem again. The risks of waiting to have surgery are very low. However, if you have a second attack of gallstone pain, you may want to have surgery because you are more likely to continue to have attacks.

Laparoscopic surgery is usually the preferred method to remove the gallbladder. In this type of surgery, a doctor inserts a lighted viewing instrument called a laparoscope and surgical tools into your abdomen through several small cuts (incisions). This type of surgery is very safe, and people who have it usually recover enough in a few days to go back to work or to their normal routines.

Surgery with one large incision (open cholecystectomy) is sometimes required. This procedure has a longer recovery time and usually causes more pain.

Do I need my gallbladder?
Your digestive system can function fine without a gallbladder to store bile. Instead, bile flows directly from the liver into the intestine. You may have some slight changes in digestion, but you probably will not notice a difference.

http://health.yahoo.com/topic/digestive/overview/article/healthwise/hw107153;_ylt=AokHuQHmCogscGC3V9yuZqBLvs8F

Answer 2

There are different proposals about gall stones.Basically gall bladder stores and concentrates the bile which is formed in liver.Its is fluid in nature.But when the balance between the contents of the bile,that is between the solutes and the solvents is disturbed, the solutes precipitate and gall stones are formed.They may also form when there is infection of the gall bladder.
They contain cholesterol,bile salts and bile acids.

Answer 3

they are deposits that form in the gall bladder, a small sac near the liver that stores the bile/gall the liver makes. This is the main thing in vomit and helps with digestion.

Answer 4

Small stones found in your galblader. They are mostly made of cholesterol and if they are not too big they won't cause you much discomfort, but if they are big and are causing you pain, they can be removed w/ surgery. Four or less wholes are made in your stomach to extract the stones and you can go home on the same day or the next according to yor doctor.
Speak to your doctor for more information.

Answer 5

calcium deposits. like hard water makes calcium deposits around the sinks tubs and faucets....similar... try drinking pure water and stay away from fried foods and spicy foods or you may have to get the gall bladder taken out.

Answer 6

very simple. they are buildups of waste in your gallbladder. it can be a size of a pebble to the size of a golf ball. it is not neccicerily harmful but it can be if it blocks the bile duct.

Answer 7

Built up deposits of calcium that can only exit through the urinary tract.