gall stones

[Mike ODonnell]

Maybe there is something to the old saying....

"An Apple a day....Keeps the Gallstones Away"

ok that may be a little modified....but there is some truth to it.

[Garrett Smith]

Ox bile is not helpful in getting rid of gall stones, it is helpful for folks with no gall bladder to digest the fat in their foods. It is a physiological thing, the gall bladder was put there for a reason--to hold bile (which is produced slowly by the liver) to release in a big bolus when a meal is eaten. Not having a gall bladder is akin to trying to wash a bunch of dishes with the sink only releasing a small trickle of water--as opposed to the full sink of water that would be the full gall bladder releasing bile. As far as research, to this point I've never looked any up. It's the equivalent of someone doing gastric bypass and never being told or given supplementary HCl to help digest protein (which is what the stomach does). It is tantamount to malpractice in my book, yet it is standard practice in conventional medicine to ignore known digestive processes. Sometimes I honestly wonder what gastroenterologists actually study when I hear patients tell me their gastros say things like "there is no connection between your diet and your ulcerative colitis flare-ups". Seriously?!?

I don't have a lot of time right now, but here is one that is related:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...ubmed_RVDocSum

In asymptomatic and symptomatic gallstone carriers, treatment with the hydrophilic bile salt ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) has been claimed to reduce the risk of biliary colic and gallstone complications such as acute cholecystitis and acute pancreatitis. Also, prophylactic cholecystectomy could be beneficial in certain subgroups of asymptomatic gallstone carriers. However, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials are lacking.

[Nikki Young]

oh ok, thanks for the link! So if ox bile won't help specifically with removing the gall stones, because my grandma doesn't have a gall bladder, would the only other options be for removing them;

1. A diet without grains, nightshaded, dairy, sugar and low in fat, and

2. surgery


?

[Garrett Smith]

Fats are necessary for life. Therefore, it would be a great thing to get her some bile supplement (or at least an enzyme supplement with a lot of lipase in it). The diet above will help her not form new gallstones and over a long enough time may help her body to rid itself of her current gallstones. However, she might not have enough years left to ever see that happen (I mean it would take a long time with only diet).

Where are the gallstones exactly, if she doesn't have a gallbladder?

Also, I know there are non-surgical methods of breaking down kidney stones, I'm not sure if there are similar methods of breaking down gallstones.

It might be a time for surgery and then working on preventing more in the future (ie. removing the cause).

[Nikki Young]

Thanks Garrett, we aren't 100% sure where the gall stones are yet, the doctor presumes they are in the tube which is replacing her gall bladder. She had an untra sound the other day and was going to see the doctor this week to get the verdict, but he's in hospital for kidney stones! So will need to wait until next week sometime.