?Not many people sit around and think about their gallbladder. You can’t feel it working. The only time you would notice it is when it stops doing it’s job. Then it can really hurt.
“One night I was out with friends. I ate some spicy taco dip just before the dinner. I felt absolutely fine. I then had dinner. But by 9:30 that night, I had this terrible pain in the center of my chest! It felt like someone had me in a vice,” said Betsy Ogonis of Westfield.
“I felt awful! I was panting, because it was the only way I could breathe,” he said. “And I had excruciating pain in my left shoulder.”
?It sounds like a heart attack. After a great many tests at the emergency room, Ogonis was told it was her gallbladder, not her heart. Most likely, it had to do with the fat in the dip and the chips Betsy snacked on; both dip & chips are high in fat. To digest fat, your liver and gallbladder work together. The liver makes bile to digest fat, and stores it in the gallbladder. When you break out the chips or other high fat foods, the gallbladder squeezes bile into the intestines to break down fat. It is a pretty efficient system. Problems may develop in the gallbladder. The most common being gallstones (yes, small stone-like objects), which can cause blockages and/or inflammation. Eight percent of people with gallstones don’t even know they are there because the stones aren’t blocking the pathway. Unfortunately, when the gallstones do cause blockages, it can be very painful.
?Pain in the left shoulder, such as Ogonis felt, is uncommon. More often, the pain is in the right shoulder, between the shoulder blades and in the upper right section of the abdomen/stomach. Other signs of gallstones include: nausea, vomiting, sweating, fever, chills and bloating.
Twenty-five million Americans will experience gallstones this year. The number of people suffering from gallstones has significantly increased by 20 percent over the past 30 years. Women are two times more likely than men to develop gallstones. Also, the risk increases with age. Other risk factors that are not controllable include:
• family history
• pre-existing disease (e.g. Crohn’s disease, liver disease, and cystic fibrosis)
• ethnicity (higher risk for native Americans, Mexican Americans and descendants of northern European countries and India)
• medication (e.g. thiazide diuretics, statins that lower cholesterol )
The good news is that there are risk factors within your power to change. ?
?People who are overweight or obese have a greater risk of developing gallstones. Losing weight and keeping it off is key. Avoid yo-yo dieting, fads, very low calorie diets and crash dieting. Rather, lose weight gradually (no more than two pounds a week). When you lose large amounts of weight in short periods of time, the liver increases its output of cholesterol. This messes up the balance between cholesterol and bile. The cholesterol can then form crystals, which lead to gallstones…and potentially a lot of pain.
?Clearly, what you put on your plate matters. The culprit? A high fat diet, particularly saturated and trans fats. Translation? Think fried foods, junk foods (e.g. cookies, cakes, chips), whole fat dairy (e.g. ice cream, cheese, butter) and red meats (e.g. beef, lamb, veal). If you are going to have a fat, choose a healthy one (think olive oil, nuts, avocado, fish). Other healthy foods to add to the supermarket list are fresh fruit & vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins (e.g. chicken, turkey), and low-fat dairy. There is preliminary evidence that moderate amounts of caffeinated coffee and alcohol may decrease the risk of gallstones. To a small extent, vitamins are showing promise, namely vitamin C, soy lecithin and iron. Much more study is needed before these become concrete recommendations.
?Food choice is not the only way to lower your risk of gallstones. Couch potatoes beware! Lack of physical activity can add to the problem. So, get up and get moving! Work on finding five days a week in which you have a spare 30 minutes of time, to do a cardio-based exercise (such as walking, biking, swimming, treadmill, elliptical, etc.) to lower your risk for gallstones.
Surgical removal of the entire gallbladder is the treatment plan for people with gallstones that are symptomatic.
“I had surgery on Friday and was back to work the following Thursday!” said Ogonis. “And I was fine. I had no problems recovering. I felt great!”
The body does adapt to life without a gallbladder. To aid in recovery, continue to live a healthy lifestyle. This means get up and move as well as eat a low fat diet, rich with fresh fruit & vegetables, high fiber grains, low fat dairy and lean protein.
Jennifer Giffune, R.D., L.D.N. is a freelance author, professional speaker and nutrition counselor. On the last Wednesday of each month, Jennifer can be heard on 89.5 WSKB radio on the “Wake up Wednesday Morning” Show. To make an appointment with Jennifer at Mercy Medical Group, call 786-1500.
