subject: Gallstones: Their Types, Tests and Treatment [print this page] Gallstones: Their Types, Tests and Treatment
Gallstones are shaped like pebbles which are accidentally located when you undergo an abdominal surgery or an x-ray. Most people have no symptoms when they encounter problem with gallstones. However, if you happen to experience clay colored stools and the turning of your skin to yellowish or you are feeling pain for more than 5 hours already, it is best to consult your doctor at the earliest possible time. Another condition is when you are having nausea and fever.
There are several types of gallstones: cholesterol and pigment, and each type have a different cause.
Most people are familiar with the Cholesterol type of gallstones. They are the most common. The liver cells secrete cholesterol into the bile. This is how the liver removes too much cholesterol from your body. For the liver to melt the cholesterol in bile, it has to secrete the cholesterol. Failure to secrete the right amount will cause the formation of gallstones in the gallbladder.
Pigment gallstones are categorized into two types. You have the black pigment gallstones and the other one is the brown pigment. Pigment forms hemoglobin which is converted into bilirubin and released into the blood. The liver removes the bilirubin and then modifies it. It thereafter secretes it into the bile.
Black pigment gallstones do not dissolve well enough in bile. It combines with others to form the black pigment particles. The particles are then subsequently formed to become gallstones. The gallstones are called black pigment for being hard and black.
Brown pigment gallstones are called that way because their color is more of the brown shade. Gallstones of this type are formed from the pigment combination with fats in bile such as cholesterol and from lecithin, where you have some fatty acids. The combination of the particles is formed into brown gallstones.
There are other extraordinary types of gallstones such as the one formed from calcium carbonate and another fascinating type is the one that develops and grows in patients taking the antibiotic Rocephin. Once you stop taking the drug, the gallstones disappear.
TESTS AND TREATMENTWhen you see your doctor, he will recommend that you take some tests like an abdominal ultrasound, CT Scan, Gallbladder radionuclide scan, magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography(MRCP)or Endoscopic ultrasound. Blood tests to be administered will most likely be pancreatic enzymes tests, liver function tests and bilirubin tests. The usual medical treatment procedure for gallstones is Laser Surgery.
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