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Show Your Doctor Says . . . The following is one of a series of articles written by members of the Utah State Medical Association and published in cooperation with your local newspaper. These articles are i scheduled to appear every other week throughout the year in an effort to j better acquaint you with probelms of health, and designed to improve the J well-being of the people of Utah. GALL STONES AND GALL BLADDER TROUBLES One of the most common complaints com-plaints of mankind is that of "indigestion." "in-digestion." Very frequently a "diseased or sick gall bladder" is responsible for such annoying symptoms. It is estimated that 30 percent of all women beyond the age of forty carry gall stones. There is an old medical truism, that if a woman is over forty years of age, fair of skin, fat of body, and fertile (having had a large family), she is likely to have gall stones. It must be remembered, however, that infections, infec-tions, tumors and stones may be found in the gall bladders of infants, in-fants, children, and mature individuals in-dividuals of both sexes. Indigestion - Patients suffering from "gall stones" usually complain of bloating, bloat-ing, gaseous distention. They insist that all foods "turn into gas" and that their stomach is "bloated "bloat-ed and puffy". These patients often obtain considerable relief by belching gas, and the greater their distress the more severe their belching. Cooked cabbage, beans, onions, greasy foods, chocolate, and nuts invariably provoke a "gas-attack"; "gas-attack"; hence these foods are seldom eaten. If the gall stones escape from the gall bladder by passing down the smaler bile ducts, the patient experiences ex-periences severe, excruciating bile-colic. bile-colic. These agonizing pains center in the pit of the stomach, penetrate the body to the tip of the right shoulder blade, or pass upward to the top of the right shoulder. These pains may be intense, violent, agonizing agon-izing and unbearable. Usually persistent per-sistent and terrifying vomiting enhances and aggravates the pain. One attack usually convinces the patient that he must have relief. X-Ray Diagnosis Improvements in. x-ray diagnosis now make it easy to detect and identify various types of diseases which arise in the gall bladder. If the gall bladder is obstructed and cannot work, this is indicated by x-ray studies. If the gall bladder contains stones, these stones can be outlined on the x-ray film. Fortunately, disease of the gall bladder, whether stones, infections, or tumor formations, can be ac- curately visualized and recognized by x-ray examination. There is little uncertainity in dealing with diseases of the gall bladder. Medicines and Diets CAN GALL STONES BE DISSOLVED? DIS-SOLVED? There seems to be a common belief that gall stones can be dissolved by certain "mystic "mys-tic medicines" and that they can be "passed" if one takes olive oil. Both of these ideas are erroneous. There is no medicine, nor is there any diet which can make gall stones dissolve and disappear. When gall stones form in the gall bladder, they remain there until they are removed by means of surgery. CAN GALL BLADDER DISEASE DIS-EASE BE CURED BY DIETS? No, there is no known diet which will cure a diseased gall bladder. It is true that some foods, such, as cabbage, " greasy foods, and" spices make the gall bladder work harder than other foods. If eaten, these foods may initiate or provoke pro-voke a "gall stone attack." Yet, on the other hand, one may abstain from such foods and still suffer from attacks of colic. Yellow Jaundice Yellow jaundice is a serious symptom. In this disorder the bile acids ' and bile pigments, which should be cast off in the feces, have been denied this manner of escape, so that they pile up in the blood stream and body tissues. These substances are poisonous to body tissues and produce a profound pro-found illness. Any patient suffering suffer-ing from yellow jaundice should seek medical advice. Surgery Fortunately the diseased gall bladder and its stones can be safely removed by surgical methods. meth-ods. Better anesthesia, improved surgical technics, and the use of such wonder-drugs as penicillin, have made gall bladder operations relatively safe. The mortality rate, in modern hospitals, is less than one death in every 250 gall bladder operations. This can be greatly reduced if patients seek surgical care before such complications as jaundice, infection or tumor formations arise. Likewise, there in considerable information to indicate indi-cate that cancer of the gall bladder, which is not a frequent disease, dis-ease, is usually associated with gall stones. Hence gall stones should be removed before they have had an opportunity to stimulate the formation of cancer. We are often asked whether or not patients can eat what they desire after the gall bladder has been removed. Yes, the vast majority of people can. The symptoms of indigestion disappear and these patients are able to eat as would any normal individual. While modern medicine has not been able to prevent the formation of gall stones, it has been able to remove much of the suffering and danger from this once-dreaded I disease. |