Have gall stones is there any treatment other than surgery.? And can someone?

Question

tell me it is that I have always ate a healthy diet, looked after myself checked my weight and cholestrol levels and yet I get everthing going whereas my pal has neglected herself and abused her body by smoking etc and she has only ever been I'll twice in her long life. Though I'm pleased for her but not very pleased for myself.

'Lifes a ***** and then you die'....lol

You folk are so helpful and kind thank you so much every bodyxxx

Answer 1

abze36 is thinking of kidney stones. You cannot urinate out gallstones.

If you have an acutely inflammed gallbladder due to stones, surgery is the only option to prevent further unwanted complications. BTW, it's not painless, don't kid yourself :) But if it is done laparascopically, the recovery time is much quicker and you only have 3-4 small 1-2cm incisions.

If you have chronic stones with no symptoms, there are some drugs that can "melt/dissolve" the stones inside the gallbladder. However, these drugs do not work well and take many months to be effective.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Gall stones that do not cause symptoms do not need any treatment. If a low fat diet is not successful in controlling the symptoms some other form of treatment is required - this usually, but not always, means surgery.

Dissolution therapy - sometimes a specific type of gall stone can be dissolved using drugs that are instilled at the site of the stone through a small tube; this can be done by swallowing a gastroscope through which the tube is passed up into the duct that leads into the gall bladder. This is controlled by watching the progress of the tube with an imaging system. If the patient is unfit or unwilling to have an operation, dissolution therapy is occasionally possible. Since it takes a long time to dissolve a gall stone and it often comes back after the treatment is stopped this is not usually a favoured technique.

An alternative is to have a laparoscopic keyhole procedure to remove small stones by using a little basket that is passed through a special type of imaging instrument called a choledochoscope. When necessary, the surgeon will recommend an operation to remove the gall bladder either using the laparoscope or by traditional surgery.

Lithotripsy, using high frequency sound, is sometimes suggested when there are gall stones in the gall bladder or bile ducts since these can sometimes be ‘shattered’ by this technique. This method is commonly used for treating kidney stones but is only rarely useful for gall stones, which have a different composition. The fragments of shattered stone will still need to be removed by an endoscopic procedure or further dissolution therapy, which is very slow.

After the gall bladder has been removed most people will be aware that their pain has completely disappeared and they no longer need to avoid fatty food. Complications following gall bladder surgery are very rare and there are usually no long-term effects from having a gall bladder removed.

It would be wise to discuss all the options with your specialist.

Answer 3

You're right, life is not always fair. Sometimes gallstones form if you try to lose weight too fast, othertimes heredity plays a role. Caucasian women who have had children seem to be at higher risk.

There are drugs that dissolve gallstones, but they are not appropriate in every case. Plus, they take from six months to two years to work.

Lithotripsy, or breaking the stones with ultrasound, has been tried (another responder was wrong about this), but has had limited success, in our area at least. The technique is more successful with kidney stones.

Removal of the gall bladder by laparoscopic surgery is the most common procedure for symptomatic gall stones. It's a reasonably safe procedure as long as you get a surgeon with experience in the operation.

Answer 4

Of course there is and this option has nothing to do with "popping pills" or submitting yourself to any invasive procedure. If you are serious about trying to avoid surgery there are Gall Bladder flushes you can do and most of the time they will really help flush out the gall stones and prevent surgery or any invasive procedure. Here is a website you can go to if you want to learn more about them, haven't been there in a long time so if the site is down email me and I can send you a couple recipes to follow. [e-mail]

http://chetday.com/gallbladderflushes.htm

Most flushes aren't pleasant cause it involves drinking a certain amount of oil straight up with some kind of acid (lemon juice, lime juice, grapefruit juice, etc) but in then it is worth a try. After the gallbladder is very important for digestion and if you can avoid it being cut out the better off you will be in the end. After all we weren't born with to many organs, they all play an important role in our over all health...yes even the appendix.

Renel Alarie D.C.

Answer 5

Cholelithiasis is the presence of one or more calculi (gallstones) in the gallbladder. In the US, 20% of people > 65 yr have gallstones, and most disorders of the extrahepatic biliary tract arise from gallstones. Gallstones may be asymptomatic or cause biliary colic but do not cause dyspepsia. Other common consequences of gallstones include cholecystitis; biliary tract obstruction (usually as a result of bile duct stones), sometimes with infection (cholangitis); and gallstone pancreatitis. Diagnosis is usually based on ultrasound. If cholelithiasis causes symptoms or complications, cholecystectomy becomes necessary.
A gallbladder operation is absolutely necessary:
(1) When an acute inflammation is present. This can be diagnosed by elevated temperature, pain and tenderness in the vicinity of the gallbladder, an elevated white blood cell count, and x-ray evidence of a diseased organ.
(2) When the patient is having recurrent attacks of severe, colicky pain due to the presence of gallstones.
(3) When, in the presence of positive proof of gallbladder malfunction, the patient is suffering from chronic indigestion, nausea, flatulence, and pain in the right upper part of the abdomen.
(4) When jaundice, caused by an obstructing stone, is present.
Prevention
Although you can't entirely prevent gallstones from forming, you may be able to lower your risk by following these suggestions:
* Maintain a healthy body weight.
* Avoid crash diets or a very low intake of calories — less than 800 calories a day.
* Exercise regularly.
* Choose a low-fat, high-fiber diet that emphasizes fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Reduce the amount of animal fat, butter, margarine, mayonnaise and fried foods you eat.
Eat a low-cholesterol, low-fat diet. This kind of diet includes cottage cheese, fat-free milk, fish (not canned in oil), vegetables, poultry, egg whites, and polyunsaturated oils and margarines (corn, safflower, canola, and soybean oils). Avoid foods with excess fat in them such as meat (especially liver and fatty meat), egg yolks, whole milk, cream, butter, shortening, lard, pastries, cakes, cookies, gravy, peanut butter, chocolate, olives, potato chips, coconut, cheese (other than cottage cheese), coconut oil, palm oil, and fried foods.
Please see the web pages for more details on Gallstones (Cholelithiasis).

Answer 6

If the gallstones aren't causing you any difficulty, they can reasonably be ignored. If they're symptomatic, there is a medication that's been on the market for quite some time (Actigall, ursodiol), but it's telling that it's been available all this time and hasn't decreased the incidence of surgery. Talk with your doctor about it.

Answer 7

LASER is invented so i can help you. Since some religion do not want their bodies to be opened (and we respect it) that is why LASER was a help. try to have a healthy diet and do what your doctor/nutritionist say on what you should it. Let's face it, smoking really does harm not just the smoker but the people around.

Answer 8

Yes there is Ultra sound,this can break small stones
up then you pass small bits,when you urinate.
If they are large,key hole surgery can be performed,
making only a tiny scar and far less invasive.

Answer 9

Not really any other option, the surgery is quick and relatively painless anyway. Its nothing to do with abusing your body (or quite honestly I would be dead by now!) its just one of those things.