I like our traditional food, such as home-cooked meals… Reduce cholesterol-rich foods
Gallstones are a disease in which fluid stored in the gallbladder (gallbladder) hardens into stones. Persistent abdominal pain and nausea may occur, but there may be no symptoms. Some gallstones have complications such as inflammation and the risk of cancer. Gallstones are twice as common in women as in men. Why? Which foods will have an impact?
◆ Increases rapidly following age 40… Birth control pills, obesity, sudden diet, etc.
The majority of gallstones are cholesterol gallstones. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), cholelithiasis is twice as common in women as in men. It increases rapidly following the age of 40. Excessive secretion of estrogen (female hormone) due to pregnancy, hormonal imbalance due to hormone replacement therapy, and oral contraceptives can raise the cholesterol level in the bile and reduce the movement of the gallbladder, causing gallstones. It is known that gallstones are more likely to occur with more births.
Gallstones are also hereditary, overweight-obesity occurs a lot. Gallstones can form, especially when there is prolonged fasting or rapid weight loss. In general, weight loss of more than 1.5 kg per week increases the risk of gallstones. A high-fat, high-cholesterol, and high-carbohydrate diet may also increase risk. Cholesterol-lowering drugs in the blood increase the amount of cholesterol secreted into the bile, which increases the risk of cholelithiasis. Diabetes is also a risk factor.
◆ I like our traditional food, such as home-cooked food… Reduce cholesterol-rich foods
To prevent cholelithiasis, it is helpful to eat traditional Korean food, that is, rice and 3 to 4 side dishes evenly and in appropriate amounts, rather than Westernized meals. When eating out, be careful of foods that are high in oil and low in fiber. Reducing cholesterol-rich viscera is also helpful. Bile helps digest fat, but if it contains too much cholesterol, etc., it can harden into gallstones.
◆ Symptoms?… Various from asymptomatic to abdominal pain, jaundice, fever, etc.
Symptoms of cholelithiasis include abdominal pain, jaundice, and fever. The most common symptom is abdominal pain. Sometimes there are no symptoms at all. As gallstones move along the cystic duct, abdominal pain occurs suddenly. It tends to appear especially following a greasy meal. 1) Pain that lasts more than 5 hours 2) Nausea and vomiting 3) Fever or chills 4) Yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes (jaundice) 5) If you have symptoms such as muddy gray stools, you should visit a hospital. Asymptomatic gallstones do not require surgical treatment, but should be observed with an abdominal ultrasound once a year.
◆ What is the relationship between cholelithiasis and cancer in charge?
In the case of some gallbladder stones, gallbladder cancer often occurs when the gallbladder wall hardens and becomes calcified. Gallstones larger than 2.5 to 3 cm increase the risk of gallbladder cancer if left untreated for a long time. Not all gallstones in the gallbladder will develop into cancer, but monitoring is required. However, biliary gallstones, unlike gallstones in the gallbladder, do not last long without symptoms. Once symptoms occur, they are often severe. Even if there are no symptoms, the principle of treatment is to remove it as soon as it is found.
