Gallstones is hardening of bile in the gallbladder. Gallstone incidence is quite common in the western countries as it afflicts 10% adult population. Situation in Latin American Region is even worse as 20-40% of adult population shows prevalence of gallstones. The incidence among Asian population is surprisingly much lower where it ranges from 3to 4% only. Cholelithiasis (gallstones) pose a big burden on Us health budget as 6 billion $ are annually spent on this disorder. There are 20 million patients of gallstones and adding to them are 1 million annually. As surgery is one of the radical treatment option and is quite safe but it also costs 1000 lives annually.

Types of Gallstones

There are following two types of gallstones.

• Cholesterol stones
• Pigment stones

Cholesterol stones

About 80% of all gallstones are cholesterol stones. These stones occur due to increased secretion of cholesterol in the bile secretion. The other thing contributing to the formation of cholesterol stones is delayed or reduced emptying of gallbladder. The gallstones are formed in the following steps Bile saturation with cholesterol

Nucleation or initiation of crystal formation

Aggregation of cholesterol crystals

Pigment stones

Remaining 20% of stones of gallbladder are pigmented stones. These are usually the bilirubin aggregates with some calcium forming insoluble salts. These insoluble salts tend to form stones. This type of stones are usually black in color and radio opaque as compared to cholesterol stones which are usually radiolucent (pure cholesterol) and yellow in color. The formation of pigmented stones also requires same 3 steps as for the cholesterol stones.

Role offered by Obesity in Gallstone Formation

Along with a long list of other risk factors for gallstones obesity plays a considerable role in the stone formation. It is thought that a obesity increases 25-30% risk of developing gallstones. Specialty of obesity is cholesterol gallstones but it can also contribute affectively in development of pigmented gallstones.

Mechanism by which Obesity helps in formation of Gallstones

The following 2 factors induced by obesity help in formation of gallstones. Obesity decreases the amount of bile salts in the bile , which causes the increase in the cholesterol amount in the bile.
Gallbladder emptying is also affected by the obesity specially in the women , the delayed and decreased gallbladder emptying leads to the formation of stones .

Signs and Symptoms of Gallstones

Gallstones cause gastric pain leading towards the right shoulder tip and typical feeling after a fatty meal characterized by Nausea

Blenching

Colic

Indigestion If a person also have chills or fever or yellowish discoloration of skin along with above mentioned symptoms he should immediately see his physician.

Biliary pathway showing gallbladder and bile flow