Gastrointestinal changes occur, including decreased secretion of stomach acid; decreased intestinal motility, resulting in constipation and dehydration of the stools; slower metabolism of drugs by the liver; increased incidence of gallstones; and loss of teeth, impairing proper chewing and digestion.
Cholecystitis, acute or chronic inflammation of the gallbladder, in most instances associated with the presence of gallstones.
Tumours of the endocrine pancreas are difficult to diagnose because findings are nonspecific and may include diabetes, gallstones, excessive fat in the stool, indigestion, and diminished secretion of gastric acid.
About 60 to 70 percent of gallbladder cancers are found incidentally following cholecystectomy (surgical removal of the gallbladder) for otherwise benign diseases, such as cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder) or gallstones (cholelithiasis).
The preservation of mummies has, however, revealed some of the diseases suffered at that time, including arthritis, tuberculosis of the bone, gout, tooth decay, bladder stones, and gallstones; there is evidence too of the parasitic disease schistosomiasis, which remains a scourge still.
Other illnesses such as gallstones, chronic inflammation of the colon or gallbladder, and certain parasitic infections are also risk factors.
Surgical removal of the gallbladder is the usual treatment, particularly when gallstones are present or when there is evidence of gangrene or perforation.
The larger the gallstones (e.g., larger than 3 cm [1.2 inches] in diameter), the higher the risk of gallbladder cancer.
But animal remedies (such as the milk of various animals, bones, gallstones) and minerals (sulfur, arsenic, lead, copper sulfate, gold) were also employed.
Although gallstones are present in about 85 percent of gallbladder cancer patients, however, only a small fraction of individuals with gallstones develop cancer.
The use of opioids to relieve the pain associated with kidney stones or gallstones presumably depends on their ability to affect opioid receptors in these tissues and to inhibit contractility.
