Crossword clues for gallstone
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Gallstone \Gall"stone`\, n. A concretion, or calculus, formed in the gall bladder or biliary passages. See Calculus, n., 1.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. (context medicine English) A small, hard object, in the shape of a pebble, that sometimes forms in the gallbladder or bile duct; composed of cholesterol, bile pigments and calcium salts.
WordNet
n. a calculus formed in the gall bladder or its ducts [syn: bilestone]
Wikipedia
A gallstone is a stone formed within the gallbladder out of bile components. The term cholelithiasis may refer to the presence of stones in the gallbladder or to the diseases caused by gallstones. Most people with gallstones (about 80%) never have symptoms. In 1–4% of those with gallstones, a crampy pain in the right upper part of the abdomen, known as biliary colic, occurs each year. Complications of gallstones include inflammation of the gallbladder, inflammation of the pancreas, and liver inflammation. Symptoms of these complications may include pain of more than five hours duration, fever, yellowish skin, vomiting, or tea-color urine.
Risk factors for gallstones include birth control pills, pregnancy, a family history of gallstones, obesity, diabetes, liver disease, or rapid weight loss. Gallstones are formed in the gallbladder, typically from either cholesterol or bilirubin. Gallstones may be suspected based on symptoms. Diagnosis is than typically confirmed by ultrasound. Complications may be detected on blood tests.
Prevention is by maintaining a healthy weight and eating a proper diet. If there are no symptoms, treatment is usually not needed. In those who are having gallbladder attacks surgery to remove the gallbladder is typically recommended. This can be either done through several small incisions or through a single larger incision. Surgery is typically done under general anesthesia. In those who are unable to have surgery, medication to try to dissolve the stones or shock wave lithotripsy may be tried.
In the developed world, 10–15% of adults have gallstones. Rates in many parts of Africa, however, are as low 3%. Gallbladder and biliary related diseases occurred in about 104 million people (1.6%) in 2013 and they resulted in 106,000 deaths. Women more commonly have stones than men and they occur more commonly after the age of 40. Certain ethnic groups are more often affected with for example 48% of American Indians having gallstones. Once the gallbladder is removed, outcomes are generally good.
Usage examples of "gallstone".
There were no cases where gallstones or rheumatoid arthritis, say, were cured, much less cancer or cardiovascular disease.
Certain diseases plague women (thyroid & bladder disorders, anemias, spastic colon, varicose veins, migraines, gallstones, arthritis, asthma) but men have deadlier problems (heart disease, strokes, emphysema) and more visual-hearing defects.
In 1814 a white substance with a fatty consistency was obtained from gallstones and was named cholesterin (koh-les'ter-in.
A fracture, a burn, a cut, a dropsy, a menopause, a pregnancy, two pelvics, a scattering of colds, a feeding schedule, two teethings, a suspicious lung, a possible gallstone, a cirrhosis of the liver and Martha Anderson.
On occasion such crystals conglomerate to form sizable gallstones that may block the cystic duct through which bile ordinarily passes into the small intestine.
But before the trees had blossomed for the fourth time since Baudolino had met him, Otto was reduced to a shadow of himself by malarial fevers, pains in all his joints, fluxions of the chest, not to mention gallstone.
The pressure of blocked fluid can likewise give rise to pain, such as that produced by gallstones and kidney stones.