The Gall Bladder
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Introduction
The gallbladder is small organ found fixed to the underside of the liver the job of which is to store and concentrate bile. Bile is produced in the liver and is responsible particularly for the efficient digestion of dietary fats. Bile is squirted in to the duodenum under the control of a hormone released into the blood stream as fats are detected in the stomach.
As food leaves the stomach it passes to the duodenum and mixes with bile that has passed down through the biliary duct system. Disease associated with the gallbladder is very common. In western society this is usually due to the development of gallstones in the gallbladder and the following conditions may often result from inflammation, infection or blockage of the gallbladder and duct system that drains it.
- Biliary Colic
- Cholecystitis
- Jaundice
- Cholangitis
- Pancreatitis
- Gallbladder cancers are thankfully very rare as are infections not due to gallstones