General Overview of Gallstones
What part of the digestive system does it affect?
Gallstones affect your gallbladder and the bile tract of the digestive system. Gallstones accumulate in your gallbladder where bile is stored. If you get too many gallstones, the duct that allows bile into the small intestine to help digest fats becomes blocked. Gallstones are very painful for the person who has them. After meals, the gallbladder contracts to pump bile into the duodenum but when the gallbladder contracts while full of stones it is excruciating.
How does it affect the rest of the body?
If the gallbladder squeezes some some small stones into the bile duct, the bile duct becomes blocked. A blocked bile duct can lead to jaundice or a bile duct infection. This is a medical emergency. There is also a chance that the gallbladder can rupture which will release bile into the abdominal cavity which causes peritonitis. A blocked bile duct can also cause pancreatitis in some people too which is an extremely painful condition in which gallstones passing through the common bile duct cause inflammation in the pancreas. If any of the bile ducts are blocked for a large period of time, severe damage or infection can occur in the gallbladder, liver or pancreas. If this is left untreated, the results may be fatal.
What part of the digestive system does it affect?
Gallstones affect your gallbladder and the bile tract of the digestive system. Gallstones accumulate in your gallbladder where bile is stored. If you get too many gallstones, the duct that allows bile into the small intestine to help digest fats becomes blocked. Gallstones are very painful for the person who has them. After meals, the gallbladder contracts to pump bile into the duodenum but when the gallbladder contracts while full of stones it is excruciating.
How does it affect the rest of the body?
If the gallbladder squeezes some some small stones into the bile duct, the bile duct becomes blocked. A blocked bile duct can lead to jaundice or a bile duct infection. This is a medical emergency. There is also a chance that the gallbladder can rupture which will release bile into the abdominal cavity which causes peritonitis. A blocked bile duct can also cause pancreatitis in some people too which is an extremely painful condition in which gallstones passing through the common bile duct cause inflammation in the pancreas. If any of the bile ducts are blocked for a large period of time, severe damage or infection can occur in the gallbladder, liver or pancreas. If this is left untreated, the results may be fatal.