The disease that causes severe stomach pain is becoming more common – These are the symptoms – 2024-02-20 23:51:59

Bile problems that cause stomach pains have become more common among Finns, says the docent of gastrosurgery and senior physician Timo Heikkinen From the health house.

– The incidence of gallstone disease seems to have increased at the same time as weight gain and its fluctuations have increased, says Heikkinen.

According to Heikkinen, it is known that in addition to being overweight, the risk of gallstones is increased by yo-yoing and severe dieting. Losing weight quickly changes the metabolism, which increases the risk of gallstone disease.

– For example, new weight loss drugs have the property that they can contribute to the formation of gallstones together with weight loss. In the same way, bariatric surgery can also provoke the formation of gallstones.

Gallstones are common and increase with age. Already one third of 75-year-old women have gallstones. The disease affects women more often than men, but the reason for this is not known for sure. The role of heredity in the formation of stones is also not precisely known.

– Hormonal reasons play a role, but women can also be more susceptible to developing gallstone disease related to weight gain for other reasons.

A typical gallstone patient has traditionally been a patient of the so-called three F’s. “Fat”, “female”, “forty”, i.e. an overweight woman in her forties. Due to the increase in overweight, bile problems also occur in younger people.

Severe pain in the upper abdomen

A gallstone attack typically starts suddenly 15-30 minutes after eating. The pain is caused by the gallbladder contracting and gallstones getting wedged in the gallbladder neck area, preventing the gallbladder from emptying.

In a seizure, the pain is felt in the right upper abdomen under the rib cage. The pain can also radiate to the right side in the region of the pelvis and shoulder.

– The pain is felt as a deep cramping pain. Milder symptoms can also occur, such as just a vague feeling of nausea and a feeling of a ring in the upper abdomen after eating.

The pain lasts from a few minutes to two to three hours. The pain attack may also be accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

In the elderly, symptoms may be more vague, such as confusion, loss of appetite and nausea.

Gallstones always have no symptoms at all. An estimated 10-15 percent of adults have gallstones. Up to two thirds of them are asymptomatic. Then gallstones can be found by chance when the stomach is examined for another reason.

Many other diseases can also cause stomach pains. For example, according to Heikkinen, the pain of gallstones differs from the stomach pain caused by reflux disease in that the pain is stronger and is only felt on one side of the upper abdomen.

The pain of reflux disease is usually longer lasting and burning and can be felt more behind the sternum in the middle upper abdomen.

Even healthy food can give you a kick

An attack of gallstones is often associated with greasy barbecued food and French fries.

However, many vegetables can also cause symptoms.

– The range of food substances that cause symptoms is wide, and even healthy foods can cause them.

The most typical of these are apple, turnip, cabbage, raw onion and other raw vegetables, some also include cucumber, pepper and pea.

If gallstone disease is diagnosed, foods that cause pain should be avoided.

Repeated seizures

A gallstone attack can occur only once in a lifetime, and it does not necessarily need to be treated then, but it is more common for the attacks to start recurring at certain intervals.

The situation can get worse over time if the gallstones are large or they block the bile ducts. Over time, the risk of gallbladder infection increases. 10-20 percent of symptomatic gallstone patients develop gallbladder inflammation, 5 percent of asymptomatic gallstone patients.

In the case of gallbladder inflammation, the attack of the disease can also, as it were, “stay on”. The walls of the gallbladder can become inflamed and the patient begins to develop general symptoms, such as fever.

Sometimes a gallstone can get from the gallbladder into the bile ducts, in which case the bile liquid may no longer be able to discharge into the intestine, but instead accumulates in the body. In this case, in addition to pain, yellowing of the whites of the eyes and the skin may occur within a few days.

If the stones get moving, it can even cause pancreatitis, which can be dangerous.

The situations require emergency care and surgery.

Surgery is the only treatment

Even without the complications caused by the disease, according to Heikkinen, the only way to treat the symptoms of gallstones is to remove the gallbladder. In the past, gallstones were soaked, but then the problem was that the actual problem did not go away, because more gallstones are always formed.

– Sometimes it can also be the case that smaller stones can be more difficult than large ones. The small stone fragments created during the dissolution get into the bile ducts more easily, causing problems.

According to Heikkinen, surgery is indicated if the patient has symptoms and there are no contraindications to surgery.

– Surgery is usually concluded after two or three pain attacks, sometimes even one, if it has been so severe for the patient that he does not want to experience the same thing again.

According to Heikkinen, gallbladder removal is a routine surgical procedure that rarely involves serious complications. The recovery time is also usually short, and you can return to work after 1-2 weeks of sick leave, depending on the profession.

Sometimes, rarely, after gallbladder removal, too much bile accumulates in the small intestine and the patient has long-lasting diarrhea.

– Fortunately, this bile acid diarrhea is very rare, and its symptoms can be alleviated with enzyme preparations.

Usual medicines do not help

If you are surprised by a sudden, severe stomach ache or if your stomach always has symptoms after eating, you should find out. The possibility of gallstones can be determined reliably with an abdominal ultrasound.

If gallstones have ever been found, the symptoms of the attack can be alleviated with a painkiller (Litalgin), which relaxes the smooth muscle tissue of the intestines and gallbladder.

– Patients with gallstones should have medicine on hand in case of a pain attack.

Traditional painkillers such as ibuprofen and paracetamol are of little help for a gallstone attack.

Not everything is known yet about the prevention of gallstone disease. Obesity clearly increases their risk, so weight management is important. Instead of rapid and intense weight loss, overweight people should lose weight slowly over a slightly longer period of time.

The effect of nutrition on the formation of gallstones is unclear. Therefore, there is no special diet that can prevent them from occurring