Gallstone
By Bjarne Lühr Hansen PhD, MD and Philipp Skafte-Holm MD, Mentor Institute
Many people has gallstone without noticing it. A gallstone attack appears as pain in the upper right part of the stomach, just below the ribs, and vomiting. Gallstone attacks can complicate with fever and yellow discolouring of skin or eyes. If this happens, you must call the doctor immediately.
About one out of every ten persons – most often around the age of 60-70 years – has a gallstone, at some point in their life. Luckily, only half of those who have a gallstone are bothered by it. Gallstone – that consists of cholesterol and calcium – are formed in the gallbladder. The gallbladder is placed in the upper right part of the stomach, just below the ribs.
Gallstone can appear in different ways. The most common is gallstone attack. Gallstone attack can complicate if the gallbladder is inflamed (fever) or by waste products accumulating in the blood (yellow discolouring). Therefore, if you have a gallstone, you can have stomach pains, fever and yellow discolouring of skin and eyes.
A typical gallstone attack appears as pains in the upper right part of the stomach, right below the ribs. Many tell about how fatty and smoked foods triggers such a gallstone attack. The pains are prolonged, oppressive and radiates up into the right shoulder. Most people have nausea and vomit together with the pains. The pains start suddenly and increase in strength, peaking after approximately 1 hour; hereafter, the pain gradually decreases in the course of some hours. That means the gallstone attack is over for now. However, once you have had an attack there is always a risk of having another later on.
A gallstone attack does not always pass by itself. The attack can complicate with inflammation in the gallbladder. Such an inflammation start as a regular gallstone attack, but instead of decreasing in the course of some hours, the pains last several days and you have a fever. If you are not treated for such an inflammation you become very ill. At worst, the condition is life threatening.
Another complication of a gallstone attack is accumulation of waste products in the blood. If this happens, you have stomach pains, fever and yellow discolouring for skin and eyes. The yellow colour arises because the waste product is accumulated in the blood. The yellow colour is easily detected in the eyes since the white in the eyes is coloured yellow. The pains stem from the gallbladder and is therefore localised in the upper right part of the stomach, right below the ribs. The fever is caused by inflammation in the gallbladder.