A Simple Guide to Gallstones and Gallbldder Diseasess

By Kenneth Kee

Gallstones are stones which are found in the gallbladder which is a sac that store bile from the liver.

They are made from

1. cholesterol

2. calcium and

3. other substances in the bile.

How are Gallstones formed?

Gallstones are formed when cholesterol and other substances like calcium found in bile combine to form stones.

They are more common in

1. over weight people

2. Females more than males

3. Over the age of forty

What are the symptoms of Gallstones?

Most people with gallstones do not have symptoms.

Symptoms:

1. Mild pain in the upper right part of the abdomen and also just below the sternum just like gastritis.

2. Pain in the right upper back or shoulder blade area.

3. Pain is worse when you eat.

4. Fever and chills

5. Yellowness of the eyes or skin

6. Dark colored urine

7. Chest pain occurs when the pain radiates to the chest

How are Gallstones diagnosed?

1. Pain in the right side of the abdomen

2. Murphy's sign positive.

A thumb pressing against the right of the epigastrium causes more pain when the patients breathes in deeply

3. An ultrasound of the right side of the abdomen is the best way to find gallstones.

Most gallstones can be detected from the ultrasound.

4. gallbladder scan. A dye is injected into a vein in your arm.

X-rays are taken as the dye moves through your liver, bile duct, gall bladder.

5. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)

What are the complications of Gallstones?

A gallstone which is stuck in the bile duct (a tube which leads the bile from the liver to the gallbladder and small intestine) can give rise to complications:

1. Gallbladder inflammation or infection (Cholecystitis)

2. Swelling and inflammation of the Pancreas (pancreatitis)

3. Hepatitis due to reflux of the bile back to the liver

4. Peritonitis (inflammation of the inner lining of the abdomen) if the bile duct or gallbladder perforates or burst.

This is an emergency.

What is the treatment of Gallstones?

If there are no symptoms, treatment is not needed.

If there is mild pain, some pain and antispasmodic medicines are given.

Patient is kept for observation.

If the pain goes away, the gallstone may have become unstuck in the bile duct and pass out into the intestine.

If there is severe pain or recurrence of another attack of pain, it is advisable to have the gallbladder removed.

Normal surgery to remove the gallbladder and the gallstones involve 4 holes in the abdomen and the use of a laparoscopic to cut away the gallbladder followed by stitching.

The surgery is usually very safe and the patient may not need to be hospitalized.

In an emergency, such as perforated gallbladder, immediate surgery may be required to remove the gallbladder and cleared the inner abdomen of leaked bile.

Most people with gallstones do not have symptoms.

Sometimes gallstones may be detected while having tests for other health problems.

Sometimes an ultrasound done on a woman during pregnancy may show gallstones.

What is the prognosis of Gallstones?

The prognosis for patients after surgery is usually good.

The bile will go straight to the intestine from the liver.

Digestion of oily food may not as good as before and are usually not noticeable.

How are gallstones prevented?

Avoid eating too much fat or fried food

Avoid obesity

Avoid the excessive amount of calcium taken

TABLE OF CONTENT

Chapter 1

Gallstones

Chapter 2

Gallbladder Diseases

Chapter 3

Cholecystitis

Epilogue

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Dec 12, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301641642

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

A

Simple

Guide

to

Gallstones

And

Gallbladder

Diseases

by

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2012 Smashwords Edition

Published By Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

to my wife Dorothy

and my children

and Kelvin

This book describes the Gallstones and Gallbladder Diseases which are seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Chapter 1

Gallstones

What are Gallstones?

Gallstones are stones which are found in the gallbladder which is