Page 114 - South Mississippi Living - February, 2016

HEALTHY LIVING you’ve got gall
PROBLEMS?
American diet is culprit
story by Susan Ruddiman
photo courtesy of Memorial Hospital
The gallbladder rarely gets any attention unless it’s causing pain. But when it does act up, it’s often removed surgically.
“I’d say if you asked 100 people on the street if they know someone who’s had their gallbladder removed, 70 to 80 percent would say
sack that stores the
bile the liver makes
before it’s released into
the small intestine. The bile
is a combination of fluids, fats and cholesterol and it helps break down fat from food in the intestine. It assists in allowing vitamins and nutrients
to be more easily absorbed into the bloodstream.
However, people can live comfortably without a gallbladder because the bile ducts readily adapt to the missing organ, Blackburn said.
“At first after the surgery, patients can experience fatigue and diarrhea, but over time they are back to eating whatever they want,” he said.
There are varying reasons for the gallbladder to be removed, according to everydayhealth.com. Gallstones can form inside the gallbladder leading
to biliary colic where the gallbladder contracts. The gallbladder can get inflamed, and sometimes this can cause a fever, or the gallbladder can get diseased, becoming rigid from repeated episodes of inflammation.
“Most of the symptoms of gallbladder disease are diet related which causes gallstones to form. The American diet is the big culprit. More women than men have their gallbladders removed,” Blackburn said.
COMMON SYMPTOMS OF GALLBLADDER ISSUES
Source: www.everydayhealth.com
• Pain in the abdomen; extends from beneath the right shoulder blade to the back; worsens after eating; feels dull, sharp or crampy; increases when you breathe deeply; or in the chest
• Heartburn, indigestion and excessive gas
• Feeling of fullness in the abdomen
• Vomiting, nausea, fever
• Shaking with chills
• Tenderness in the abdomen
• Jaundice, yellowing of the
skin and eyes
• Stools of unusual color
SCOTT Blackburn, M.D.
yes,” said Scott Blackburn, M.D., a general surgeon at Memorial Hospital at Gulfport. “It’s one of the
most common surgeries across the country.”
Blackburn performs between
50 and 100
cholecystectomies a year, and a majority are done laparoscopically which means through small incisions in the abdomen.
“For the most part, it’s a minimally invasive surgery. We can do it with robotics, and only have a small incision through the belly button. Most people go home that day,” Blackburn said.
The gallbladder, located beneath the liver, is a four-inch pear shaped
114 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • February 2016
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