ROLE OF THE GALLBLADDER
Read also:
Gallbladder Liver Cleanse
GallBladder Removal

The gallbladder serves an important digestive function. It is required to emulsify fats. What is emulsification? One can easily understand this concept when washing greasy dishes. It is nearly impossible to properly clean greasy dishes without soap as the soap emulsifies the fat so it can be removed.

Similarly, the gallbladder stores bile and bile acids, which emulsify the fat one eats so it can be properly transported through the intestine into the blood stream.

Anyone who has had their gallbladder removed will need to take some form of bile salts with every meal for the rest of their life, if they wish to prevent a good percentage of the good fats they eat from being flushed down the toilet. If one does not have enough fats in the diet, their entire physiology will be disrupted, especially the ability to make hormones and prostaglandins.

What are gallstones?

Gallstones form when liquid stored in the gallbladder hardens into pieces of stone-like material. The liquid, called bile, is used to help the body digest fats. Bile is made in the liver, then stored in the gallbladder until the body needs to digest fat. At that time, the gallbladder contracts and pushes the bile into a tube--called the common bile duct--that carries it to the small intestine, where it helps with digestion.

Bile contains water, cholesterol, fats, bile salts, proteins, and bilirubin. Bile salts break up fat, and bilirubin gives bile and stool a yellowish color. If the liquid bile contains too much cholesterol, bile salts, or bilirubin, under certain conditions can harden into stones.

The two types of gallstones are cholesterol stones and pigment stones.

Cholesterol stones are usually yellow-green and are made primarily of hardened cholesterol. They account for about 80 percent of gallstones.
Pigment stones are small, dark stones made of bilirubin. Gallstones can be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a golf ball. The gallbladder can develop just one large stone, hundreds of tiny stones, or almost any combination.

Gallstones can block the normal flow of bile if they lodge in any of the ducts that carry bile from the liver to the small intestine. That includes the hepatic ducts, which carry bile out of the liver; the cystic duct, which takes bile to and from the gallbladder; and the common bile duct, which takes bile from the cystic and hepatic ducts to the small intestine. Bile trapped in these ducts can cause inflammation in the gallbladder, the ducts, or, rarely, the liver. Other ducts open into the common bile duct, including the pancreatic duct, which carries digestive enzymes out of the pancreas. If a gallstone blocks the opening to that duct, digestive enzymes can become trapped in the pancreas and cause an extremely painful inflammation called gallstone pancreatitis.

If any of these ducts remain blocked for a significant period of time, severe--possibly fatal--damage or infections can occur, affecting the gallbladder, liver, or pancreas. Warning signs of a serious problem are fever, jaundice, and persistent pain.

What causes gallstones?

Cholesterol Stones

Scientists believe cholesterol stones form when bile contains too much cholesterol, too much bilirubin, or not enough bile salts, or when the gallbladder does not empty as it should for some other reason.

Pigment Stones

The cause of pigment stones is uncertain. They tend to develop in people who have cirrhosis, biliary tract infections, and hereditary blood disorders such as sickle cell anemia in which too much bilirubin is formed.

Other Factors

It is believed that the mere presence of gallstones may cause more gallstones to develop. However, other factors that contribute to gallstones have been identified, especially for cholesterol stones.

• Obesity. Obesity is a major risk factor for gallstones, especially in women. A large clinical study showed that being even moderately overweight increases one's risk for developing gallstones. The most likely reason is that obesity tends to reduce the amount of bile salts in bile, resulting in more cholesterol. Obesity also decreases gallbladder emptying.
  
• Estrogen. Excess estrogen from pregnancy, hormone replacement therapy, or birth control pills appears to increase cholesterol levels in bile and decrease gallbladder movement, both of which can lead to gallstones.
  
• Ethnicity. Native Americans have a genetic predisposition to secrete high levels of cholesterol in bile. In fact, they have the highest rate of gallstones in the United States. A majority of Native American men have gallstones by age 60. Among the Pima Indians of Arizona, 70 percent of women have gallstones by age 30. Mexican American men and women of all ages also have high rates of gallstones.
  
• Gender. Women between 20 and 60 years of age are twice as likely to develop gallstones as men.
  
• Age. People over age 60 are more likely to develop gallstones than younger people.
  
• Cholesterol-lowering drugs. Drugs that lower cholesterol levels in blood actually increase the amount of cholesterol secreted in bile. This in turn can increase the risk of gallstones.
  
• Diabetes. People with diabetes generally have high levels of fatty acids called triglycerides. These fatty acids increase the risk of gallstones.
  
• Rapid weight loss. As the body metabolizes fat during rapid weight loss, it causes the liver to secrete extra cholesterol into bile, which can cause gallstones.
  
• Fasting. Fasting decreases gallbladder movement, causing the bile to become overconcentrated with cholesterol, which can lead to gallstones.

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms of gallstones are often called a gallstone "attack" because they occur suddenly. A typical attack can cause

• steady pain in the upper abdomen that increases rapidly and lasts from 30 minutes to several hours
• pain in the back between the shoulder blades
• pain under the right shoulder
• nausea or vomiting

Gallstone attacks often follow fatty meals, and they may occur during the night. Other gallstone symptoms include

• abdominal bloating
• recurring intolerance of fatty foods
• colic
• belching
• gas
• indigestion

People who also have the above and any of following symptoms should see a doctor right away:

• sweating
• chills
• low-grade fever
• yellowish color of the skin or whites of the eyes
• clay-colored stools

Many people with gallstones have no symptoms. These patients are said to be asymptomatic, and these stones are called "silent stones." They do not interfere in gallbladder, liver, or pancreas function and do not need treatment.

Gallstone symptoms are similar to those of heart attack, appendicitis, ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, hiatal hernia, pancreatitis, and hepatitis. So accurate diagnosis is important.

GALL BLADDER REMOVAL
Dr. Mercola's Comment:

(Read also: Gallbladder Liver Cleanse )

...Many people have unnecessary surgery to have their gallbladder removed. In my experience, more than half the time the gallbladder is taken out, the patient's pain that prompted the surgery still remains.

This is because the surgeon never fixed the problem. They only treated the symptom. This makes about as much sense as putting a piece of tape over the idiot light that would come on in your dashboard if your engine oil pressure is low. This would clearly solve the problem, the light would not bother you anymore, but you would be looking at expensive engine repairs if you failed to treat the cause of the light being on.

If you have abdominal pain that is immediately below your last rib on your right side and lined up with your right nipple, especially if your press down in that spot, there is a good chance that you have a gallbladder problem. .../...

I believe it is nearly criminal what traditional medicine is doing to the public when it comes to managing this problem. It is RARELY ever necessary to remove someone's gallbladder. If one ignores warning symptoms and does not address the reasons why their gallbladder is not functioning properly, then the disease can progress to the point where the pancreas is inflamed or the gallbladder is seriously infected and may have to be removed to save a person's life.

However, it is important to have a proper perspective here. Nearly ONE MILLION gallbladders are removed every year in this country and it is my estimate that only several thousand need to come out.

So, not only are surgeons removing these organs unnecessarily, but also in their nutritional ignorance they are telling patients that their gallbladders do not serve any purpose and they can live perfectly well without them. This is a lie.

Gallbladder and Liver Cleanse

The gall bladder cleanse - a safe and proven natural method to relieve digestive problems and clear built up congestion in the liver, gall bladder and bile ducts. Rather than taking the traditional, medical way of thinking by only looking at the symptoms, let's now consider how to avoid the problem of a congested gall bladder and how to prevent the unpleasant effects.

The gall bladder cleanse is also a good way to help prevent problems, and in most cases, solve current gall bladder problems that people have developed due to a poor lifestyle of eating.
You will need:

* 400 ml cold pressed virgin olive oil
* 6-8 lemons - 4 litres apple juice (preferably organic and NOT reconstituted)
* Colon cleanse or other suitable laxative (LBSII)
* Acidophilus

The day before
Eat a light breakfast and then fast for the rest of the day by drinking apple juice and water. The apple juice needs to be at room temperature as cold drinks quench the energy of the liver. The apple juice is to begin softening the gallstones and the laxative stimulates the bile ducts. In the evening of this day have 2 LBS II with a glass of water followed by some lemon juice.

The next day
Continue fasting with juice and water until the evening when you will need the olive oil and the lemon juice. Over ½ hr to 1 hour drink all the olive oil by swallowing as much as possible (for example 100mls at a time) followed by 2-3 teaspoons of lemon juice. Wait approx 10 minutes and repeat until all the oil is gone. Then go to bed and lie down on your right side until you go to sleep. Either during the night or the next morning you will begin to pass stools which look like chaff and may have some greenish ill formed stones in the stool.

Over the next week
Do not eat any fried foods – keep your diet fairly simple and supplement yourself with acidophilus for at least a week. You can expect to have improved digestive capacity, increased energy and a decrease in any digestive discomfort.

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Product to consider: GallBladder Formula by Nature's Sunshine