Description Gallstones vary in size and chemical structure. A gallstone may be as tiny as a grain of sand or as large as a golf ball. Eighty percent of gallstones are composed of cholesterol. They are formed when the liver produces more cholesterol than digestive juices can liquefy. Bilirubin gives urine its characteristic color and sometimes causes jaundice .
Gallstones are the most common of all gallbladder problems.
The gender ratio of gallstone patients changes with age. Young women are between two and six times more likely to develop gallstones than men in the same age group. In patients over 50, the condition affects men and women with equal frequency. Definitions Gallstones can cause several different disorders. Cholelithiasis is defined as the presence of gallstones within the gallbladder itself.