Biliary colic can be noticed by sudden, cramping and very severe pain in the upper right abdomen.
Such an attack of pain occurs in waves and can extend to the right shoulder or to the radiate back. It is not uncommon for one to feel nauseous or belch.
A colic can be over in ten minutes. But it can also take hours. The symptoms are not trivial.
“Anyone who notices signs of biliary colic should have this checked out by a doctor as soon as possible, if necessary in the emergency room of a hospital,” says gastroenterologist Prof. Heiner Wedemeyer from Hanover .
How gallstones form
The bile aids in the digestion of fatty foods. The bile consists of various components, explains gastroenterologist Christoph Schramm from Essen.
These include water as its main component, including cholesterol, bile acids and special fats and proteins.
These substances dissolved in water are normally in a certain equilibrium. If they get out of balance, crystals form, i.e. gallstones. They block the flow of bile. The subsequent increase in pressure in the bile ducts causes pain.
If the bile duct is blocked by one or more stones, the gallbladder can become inflamed. “It’s getting urgent,” says Heiner Wedemeyer. Because when things are going badly, the bile gets through tears in the gallbladder into the abdomen and possibly causes life-threatening peritonitis there.
Whether gallstones are the cause of the symptoms can be determined with an ultrasound and blood test find out, says Wedemeyer.
Radical diets and other risk factors
According to Christoph Schramm, there are various risk factors for the formation of gallstones. These include old age, overweight and lack of exercise. “Women are apparently more affected than men.” There is also a genetic predisposition.
Reading tip
“Even in the course of radical diets, it can happen that gallstones form,” says Heiner Wedemeyer. If you want to reduce your body weight by ten kilograms or more, you should not do this within two or three weeks.
Gallstones do not always cause problems in the body. As long as they do not cause any symptoms, no therapy is necessary.
Removal endoscopically
If there is biliary colic – i.e. severe, spasmodic pain – first Painkillers prescribed. The next step is to surgically remove the gallstones that are blocking the bile duct. “This is usually done with the help of an endoscope,” says Wedemeyer.
After an endoscopic gallstone retrieval, the gallbladder should be removed as soon as possible within a few days if there are other stones in the gallbladder, advises Wedemeyer.
The reason: gallstones can happen cause symptoms again and this may be associated with inflammation of the gallbladder. In order to rule out this possibly serious risk, the gallbladder is usually removed, according to the doctor.
“Only in rare cases are drugs used to remove the gallstones,” says Christopher Schramm. There are tablets with the active ingredient ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) that can dissolve gallstones.
How can it be prevented?
So that no gallstones form at all, you should eat a balanced diet, pay attention to regular exercise, aim for a normal weight and – As mentioned – avoid radical diets.
Drinking coffee also reduces the risk of gallstones forming, says Wedemeyer. Numerous studies have shown that. As a rule, the following applies here: a lot helps a lot. The expert: “Three to five cups of filter coffee a day would be ideal.”
Author
German Press Agency (dpa)
Sources
Dänische Studie zu Kaffeekonsum und Gallensteinen (engl.) http://dpaq.de/wYzmX
Portal “Gesundheitsinformation.de” zur Behandlung von Gallensteinen http://dpaq.de/sU6ci
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