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Gallstones: Treatment and Prevention

Out of all the people who develop gallstones, only between one and four percent of them develop symptoms. If you aren’t experiencing pain or other symptoms, you generally don’t need treatment! If your gallstones do cause symptoms, you generally have two courses of action: watchful waiting and surgery. You and your health care professional may decide that it is best to wait and see if the pain and other symptoms go away on their own. Watchful waiting is often the best course if this is your first experience with gallstone pain and the pain is mild. If you aren’t at … Continue reading →

Gallstones: Symptoms

The most common symptom of gallstones is pain. The pain may appear in the stomach or higher up under the ribs on the upper right side of the abdomen (known as the epigastric area). Gallstone pain can develop suddenly and spread into the upper back or under the shoulder blades. It is often hard to get comfortable with this pain; movement does not make the pain go away. You may have trouble breathing deeply or normally. The pain can appear after meals or may wake you from a sound sleep. A bout of gallstone pain can last anywhere from fifteen … Continue reading →

What is Estrogen Replacement Therapy?

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Since I’ve been on a roll with hormone replacement therapy information lately, I thought I’d add one more. Hormone replacement therapy often means a combination of estrogen and progestin — estrogen replacement therapy only means one kind of hormone. Estrogen replacement therapy is used to increase estrogen levels in postmenopausal women who have no uterus. Women who do have a uterus usually need a combination therapy to prevent the estrogen hormone from causing the uterine lining to over-grow (which can lead to uterine cancer). Candidates for estrogen replacement therapy include: Women who experience early menopause after having their ovaries removed … Continue reading →

Hormone Replacement Therapy: Side Effects

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If you are considering hormone replacement therapy to relieve menopause symptoms, you might want to know a little bit about the possible side effects. Not all side effects occur in all women, but the following side effects have been reported. In general, side effects are more frequent when taking oral forms of estrogen therapy. With any form of estrogen therapy, you could experience: Irregular vaginal bleeding and other discharge. Headache. Nausea. Fluid retention and weight gain. Breast tenderness. Darkening skin or spotting on the skin, especially on the face. Asthma — newly diagnosed asthma seems to be more common in … Continue reading →

Gallbladder Surgery

Gallbladder removal is the most popular treatment for gallstones that cause moderate to severe pain and/or other symptoms. Very occasionally, surgery may be done to prevent complications from gallstones, like duct blockage. Surgery is generally required if: Your gallbladder becomes inflamed or infected. Gallstones cause repeated episodes of pain. There are polyps (growths) in the gallbladder that are larger than 0.4 inch. Gallstones cause an inflammation in the pancreas. The gallbladder wall has calcified, also known as porcelain gallbladder. You have gallbladders and an impaired immune system. You may also need your gallbladder removed if you have sickle cell disease … Continue reading →

Gallbladder Disease Overview

My brother and I were still in grammar school when my mom was diagnosed with gallbladder disease. Suddenly, the family diet involved a lot of baked chicken and a lot less salt. Diet and medication kept her gallbladder in check for a number of years; eventually she had to have it removed. The gallbladder is a little sac that hangs just underneath the liver. It stores bile made by the liver — the bile is used to help digest fats. There are two ducts that carry bile from the gallbladder to the small intestines: the cystic duct and the common … Continue reading →