domingo, 20 de mayo de 2012

Gallstones: MedlinePlus [NEW TOPIC PAGE]

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Gallstones: MedlinePlus

   
A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
From the National Institutes of HealthNational Institutes of Health

Gallstones

Also called: Cholelithiasis 
 
 
Your gallbladder is a pear-shaped organ under your liver. It stores bile, a fluid made by your liver to digest fat. As your stomach and intestines digest food, your gallbladder releases bile through a tube called the common bile duct. The duct connects your gallbladder and liver to your small intestine.

Your gallbladder is most likely to give you trouble if something blocks the flow of bile through the bile ducts. That is usually a gallstone. Gallstones form when substances in bile harden. Gallstone attacks usually happen after you eat. Signs of a gallstone attack may include nausea, vomiting, or pain in the abdomen, back, or just under the right arm.

Gallstones are most common among older adults, women, overweight people, Native Americans and Mexican Americans. The most common treatment is removal of the gallbladder. Fortunately, the gallbladder is an organ that you can live without. Bile has other ways to reach your small intestine.
NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

05/15/2012 08:00 PM EDT

Source: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases - NIH



Illustration of the gallbladder

National Institutes of Health

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