The appearance of gallstones is not a joke. Their formation can become a real time bomb, so you should avoid gallstones in your body. Calculous cholecystitis is one of the possible variants of gallstones formation, which, in turn, occurs due to the stagnation of bile, a substance that regulates digestion.
What Are Gallstones?
The stones which are formed from bile may be soft, like clay, or solid. The size of gallstones varies from grains of sand to a few centimeters in diameter. Their number can range from very few to several tens or even hundreds. However, the size and the number of such undesirable “deposits” are not essential. The dangerous result can sometimes be produced by even a single small stone.
5 F Risk Factors of Cholelithiasis
The experts have named five major risk factors in the development of cholecystitis and cholelithiasis. They all begin with the letter F:
- female;
- fat;
- fair-haired;
- forty and older;
- fertile.
Each of these features has its scientific explanation. Men and women have specific distribution of cholesterol: fatty plaques tend to clog blood vessels in men, while in women cholesterol often accumulates in bile and forms stones.
The Role of Estrogens in the Gallstones Development
The role of female sex hormones, estrogens, is fatal. They are able to reduce the speed of cholesterol when it passes through the gallbladder. It is curious that the women with blond hair and sexy forms, as a rule, have higher levels of these hormones. And, in the end, bile stasis occurs systematically in all periods, when the level of hormones in a woman changes rapidly (pregnancy, menstruation, menopause, the use of oral contraceptives). The critical days last no more than a week, but a pregnant woman suffers from the disrupted flow of bile during the whole period of nine months.
Heredity
It is worth noting that the portrait of a potential victim of cholecystitis given above does not mean that graceful brunettes can sleep peacefully. This can be attributed to the fact that the main factor is still heredity. As usual, predisposition to the disease is transmitted down the female line: from mother to daughter, and then to a granddaughter. This predisposition is indirect rather than direct. The formation of gallstones may be affected by the abuse of fatty food and a passion for low-calorie diets.
Gallstone Disease Symptoms
In case of cholecystitis, there appears bitter taste in the mouth, and the tongue seems to have coating. But the main symptom of the disease is perceived pain in the right upper quadrant, which is also felt under the shoulder blade. If the pain is not reduced after an hour or two, it is advisable to call for an ambulance.
