Gall Bladder Disease Symptoms

The Gall Bladder is a small pear-shaped sac. Located next to the pancreas and liver, it stores the bile which is produced by the liver. Bile is a greenish brown enzyme, containing bile salts, bilirubin and other chemicals, which are essential for the digestion of fats. The gall bladder stores the bile, and secretes it in small amounts as and when needed for digestion. This is an important function, and any imbalance in the production, storage or secretion of bile, caused by any gall bladder disease, can prove to be harmful for the body.

Gall bladder diseases can be caused by obesity, irregular and improper meals, hormonal imbalances, infections or even heredity.

Jaundice can be caused by a malfunction of the gall bladder or liver, or a blockage in its duct. Since the bile is not reaching the digestive system in the required amounts, digestion suffers. Symptoms to diagnose the disease include nausea, indigestion and a bloated feeling. There is intolerance to fatty foods, since sufficient bile is unable to reach the intestines to digest it. Severe abdominal pain, vomiting and colic is the next step. Moreover, the excess bile stored in the gall bladder contains larger amounts of the yellow pigment bilirubin. This causes the whites of the eyes, and in severe cases, even the skin to turn yellow.

Gallstones are the root cause of most diseases affecting the gall bladder. The bile, which is stored in the gall bladder, is a fluid containing salts and chemicals. Sometimes, either due to de-hydration, or metabolic disorders, or due to certain strong medications, or even due to heredity, the quantities of these salts and chemicals, rise in proportion to the fluid content. This causes the salts to crystallize and form hard stones inside the gall bladder. These stones sometimes get lodged in the tiny bile ducts, which convey the bile to the intestines, and block them. Since the bile is unable to reach the intestines, digestion is affected. In serious cases it may lead to fever, chills and sweating. The skin becomes yellow, the urine dark, and the stool pale. Pain is the next symptom.

Pain: Gall bladder diseases are usually associated with pain. This may be either in the abdominal area. Sharp shooting pains are experienced in the right side of the rib cage, or in the middle of the upper abdomen. In some cases the pain spreads to the back, between the shoulder blades or on the right shoulder. This is termed as biliary colic.

While this pain is similar to the pain caused by kidney stones, or peptic ulcers or an impending heart attack, it has been noticed that pain due to gall bladder disease usually occurs after consuming a rich fatty meal. Initially these attacks occur at infrequent intervals, but generally the frequency of the attacks and the severity of the pain increases. Medical intervention should be sought as soon as possible if such pain occurs.