What are the most common treatments and are there any effective alternatives approaches? What are the types of gallstones? Are there any prior conditions that cause gall bladder stone formation?

Most articles on gallstones found on the internet give you the same information on the common symptoms to this condition, but they fail to provide you with viable solutions that go beyond “seek medical advice.”

In this article you will not only be shown how and why gallstones are formed, but how you may minimize or eliminate them altogether.

This website is dedicated to helping you find solutions to gallbladder attacks and associated problems.

 

The estimated present number of Americans with gallstones is nearly twenty million. Although a relatively small number of them actually display any outward symptoms of gallbladder stones, nonetheless they do have them. These obstructions are referred to as ‘silent gallstones.’

Gallstone formation and gallbladder disease are relatively modern disorders that became progressively common when dietary choices and lifestyles in our society drastically shifted towards the consumption of more processed foods. This was mainly due to a big push for the commercialization of foods with little or no nutritional value but longer shelf life.

For instance, the recent study carried out at the University Hospital of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, found that the incidence of gallbladder surgery including stone formation, went up by 600% in that country alone when the people decided to change from their more traditional, non-processed and simple foods common with their nomadic existence, to a more sedentary lifestyle that integrated all manner of “enriched,” fat-laden, highly sweetened foods and snacks of the more ‘developed’ western world in to their diet.

The number of individuals suffering from gallbladder disease and gallbladder stone symptoms in countries that have adopted a western mentality and lifestyles is astronomical and on the increase. This is the reason why gallbladder has become a prime target for surgical intervention, which is now the most common type of surgery performed today.

A  gallstone attack occurs when stones press against surrounding tissue and is manifested as a pain in the right side or in the right shoulder as referred pain. These stones can also obstruct the flow of bile and cause inflammation.

[line_break]   [/line_break]

How Do Gallstones Form?

One of the functions of the liver is to filter what goes into the body as well as the bloodstream. The typical standard American diet consists of acid-forming foods that are highly processed and laden with a slew of chemical additives, preservatives, hormones, refined fats, soft drinks, refined carbohydrates, and junk foods. To this you may add the use of cigarettes, alcohol, and other vitamin and mineral depleting substances, such as pharmaceutical or hallucinogenic drugs that are commonplace today. Because the liver is unable to break down many of these chemicals and additives, undue strain is put on it.

This toxic waste leads to the eventual formation of free radicals that are then exported to different parts of the body as fat-soluble toxins when the body is unable to eliminate them fast enough. This leads to weight gain. Excessive accumulation of toxic waste also gives rise to bile duct congestion.

Factors that contribute the most to gallstone formation are excessive toxicity and a disproportionate amount of protein in the capillary system. This produces an increase in cholesterol. When the bile has become saturated enough with cholesterol proteins and other substances, it begins to thicken. Cholesterol gallstones or cholesterol deposits are formed out of this sludge.

These stones can also form when electrolytes like calcium combine with waste matter and toxic compounds and causes them to precipitate. This is more of a defense mechanism. The result is calcium gallstones.

Under normal circumstances bile contains a combination of cholesterol, fats, bile salts, proteins, bilirubin (a waste product that gives bile and stool a yellowish-brown color) and water. Bile salts break up fat, but if the liquid bile contains too much cholesterol, bile salts, or bilirubin, it hardens into gall stones.

Factors That Contribute To Gallstone Formation

In modern times gall stones have become especially common in those women who use birth control pills or are receiving estrogen replacement therapy (HRT), since estrogen increase cholesterol levels in bile and decrease gallbladder movement which in turn can lead to formation of stones.

A recent study found that men who watch more than 40 hours of television per week have a 7-fold greater risk of developing stones than men who watch 6 hours of television per week or less.

A similar study published that women who spend more than 60 hours a week driving, or watching television, reading, sitting at a desk, had a four hundred percent 400% greater risk of developing stones than women who were only sedentary for 6 hours per week or less.

Gallstone formation is a degenerative condition that is clearly related to poor dietary habits and increased toxicity in the body.

[line_break][/line_break]

[line_break][/line_break]

[line_break][/line_break]

Dietary factors that increase the risk of developing gallstones, gallbladder attacks and gallbladder and liver dysfunctions are:

 

 Excessive protein consumption

 Rapid weight loss

   Fat free diets

   The Atkins diet

   Regular consumption of fatty and fried foods

   Alcohol Use

   Excessive consumption of dairy such as cheese and full cream milk

   Refined sugars and starches – fructose corn syrup, etc

   Insufficient water consumption – excluding refreshments and sodas, fruit juices

   Excessive use of medications

   Cholesterol lowering drugs

   Hormone replacement drugs (HRT)

   Skipping meals and eating too late

   Long-term use of birth control pills

Other causative factors include:

   Obesity – This is a major factor in gallstone formation.

   A weak immune system – increases likelihood of infection in the gallbladder.

   A sedentary lifestyle

   Diabetes

   Liver disorders

   Food allergies

   Intestinal surgery

   Cirrhosis of the liver

   Blood disorders

   Parasites

Gallstone Composition

Gallstones can range from the size of a tiny grain of sand to larger than a golf ball. Eighty percent (80%) of gallstones are cholesterol stones. The remaining twenty percent (20%) are called calcified or pigmented stones because they are mainly composed of calcium salts.

Gallstones are extremely poisonous. When the liver is saturated with them, it negatively influences every other part of the body. This is because another essential liver function is to provide nutrients to the rest of the body. Excessive amounts of stones in the liver, can obstruct both eliminating pathways and the passageways used for carrying of nutrients to the cells and organs across the body.

The body’s inability to process waste effectively brings about an accumulation of toxins, not only in the liver but also across entire the body. When the liver’s eliminating pathways are blocked, it causes it to export these toxins along with the much-needed nutrients to other areas of the body. Because many of these toxins are fat-soluble, they get stored in fatty tissues across the body, mainly around the waist or the thighs. When the body has gotten so saturated with this waste, other more serious complications begin to arise.

Stone formations are regularly regarded as inconsequential and are hardly ever taken seriously with perhaps the exception of when there is inflammation or an infection (acute cholecystitis). However, the reality is they pose a grave menace to the body’s integrity and overall wellbeing, because everything in the body is interconnected.

Not All Gallstones Can Be Detected

Calcified stones can be detected by typical diagnosis tests, however, cholesterol rich stones cannot be detected via ultrasound or CT Scan (X ray) because they are mainly composed of the same material as the rest of surrounding liquid or fluid bile. Only when there are excessive amounts of cholesterol fatty deposits and gallstones, will they show in the ultrasound scan and by then the condition is known as a fatty liver. This is why they are so hard to diagnose sometimes.

Gallbladder stones begin forming in the liver, because that is where bile is manufactured. Consequently, stones may appear anywhere bile is found. This includes the liver, bile ducts, and even at the mouth of the pancreas.

Gallstone Treatments

Commonplace methods of dealing with stones are:

Medications: Some medical doctors recommend drugs such as Actigall, or ursodeoxycholic acid. These medications are taken orally to dissolve the stones. The downside is that they are highly toxic drugs that only work on cholesterol gall stones (not calcified ones) and it takes one to two years for complete dissolution of stones. This type of treatment only works on sufficiently small stones.

Shock Wave Lithotripsy: This method involves using a machine to send high-energy shock waves through your body to break apart large stones or renal stones.

In a study concluded in at the Mayo Clinic in 2006, researchers discovered that those who chose to undergo lithotripsy open themselves to a certain debilitating medical conditions later on in life. Researchers found that anyone treated with lithotripsy multiplies their chances of falling victim to diabetes by 375% as well as high blood pressure later on in life.

Gallbladder Surgery: Most surgeons are more prone to recommend gallbladder surgery as their preferred treatment. This stems forth from the notion that the gallbladder is a non-essential organ for survival. But here is a little undisclosed fact:  there are enough studies that have discovered that over half of individuals who had their gallbladder removed returned to their doctors because they still had the same digestive problem they started with before the surgery. In other words, their symptoms of gallstones came back and sometimes worst.

Alternative Approaches:

The Pulverexx Protocol©: There is however, an alternative non-medical approach in dealing with gallstone obstructions and eliminating gallbladder pain. It is one that is much less invasive, does not require the use of potentially toxic drugs or surgery and it is a natural approach that involves taking certain key herbs that are known for being able to dissolve obstructive tones and  eliminating them, sometimes within days. It is called the Pulverexx Protocol©.

Think of it this way: Most people take care of their cars better than they do their own bodies. Most are under the impression that all you have to do to maintain health and longevity is to eat and rest. Can you imagine what would happen if all we did to maintain a running car was to put fuel? The car would soon cease to work. Likewise, our bodies need internal maintenance from time to time. Dissolving stones and hardened deposits in the liver and gallbladder is part of that maintenance.

For more information on how to dissolve gallstones, click here.

Other considerations:

If you are a person who eats lots of processed and refined foods, you may wish to consider minimizing them or eliminating them and increasing your intake of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds as well as more fiber. The types of foods you eat can have an impact on whether you develop gallstones or not. These are the findings of a 20-year landmark study (Nurses’ Health Study) where data was collected on the dietary habits of 80,000 women ¹. Researches at Harvard University noticed a lower incidence of gallbladder problems in women who ate at least 5 ounces of nuts per week or its equivalent in nut butter. This lowered the risk of developing gall stones by a whoping 25 percent.

References

1.  Tsai CJ, Leitzmann MF, Hu FB, Willett WC, Giovannucci EL. Frequent nut consumption and decreased risk of cholecystectomy in women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004