It is generally a continuous pain but may come in waves. Biliary colic is a pain that is felt in the top of the stomach, either in the middle of, or just under the ribs on the right hand side. Biliary colic: if the gallstones get stuck in the narrow neck of the gall bladder this can cause pain, which can be quite severe.Gallstones usually only give rise to symptoms if they move from the gall bladder into one of the tubes (known as bile ducts) that lead from the gall bladder and from the liver to the intestine. The majority of people who have gallstones are unaware that they have them.Īround two out of three people have gallstones but have no sign of any symptoms so often they are only found incidentally during investigation for another condition. There are many risk factors that have been linked to gallstone disease such as increased age, being female and family history. However, bile may contain so much cholesterol that when it is stored in the gall bladder the cholesterol separates out as little crystals, which may lump together to form a gallstone. Sometimes, there is just a single stone often there are several and it is not unknown for the gallbladder to contain literally dozens of small stones.īile contains a lot of cholesterol, a fatty substance that can cause disease in the arteries and in fact the bile process is one way in which the body clears itself of excess cholesterol. Starting as tiny crystals, they can grow to resemble gravel and can end up the size of pebbles. When the bile can no longer hold these chemicals in a liquid solution, gallstones start to form.

Overall gallstones seem to be more common generally, possibly as a result of changes in our diet over the last two generations.īile is a mixture of different chemicals. Recently the incidence of gallstones in much younger women and even teenagers has been rising. The condition is commoner in women especially those who have had children and who are overweight. By the age of 60 nearly a quarter of women (and a rather smaller number of men) will have developed some gallstones. The prevalence of gallstones in Europe is around 10-15%. The incidence reports show that one in six men and one in three women suffer from gallstones at some point in their life. Gallstones are small solid lumps that can form in bile and can give rise to a variety of symptoms. Once there, the bile mixes with the food that we have eaten to help with digestion.

When we eat, the gall bladder empties the bile along a tube (called the bile duct) that leads to the intestines. Gall is an old-fashioned word for bile, a liquid made in the liver and stored in the gall bladder (a small bag that sits just under the liver).

Sign of gallbladder issues