Patients with gallstones usually have too much cholesterol in their bile. When the cholesterol levels become too high and can no longer remain in solution, tiny crystals form that group together to build gallstones.
Gallstones occur much more frequently in women than in men.
A typical gallstone patient is female, middle-aged, and overweight. However, anyone with abnormally high levels of cholesterol has a much greater risk of developing gallstones. Cholelithiasis increases the chances of damage to the pancreas and increases the chance of cancer of the gall bladder. The usual treatment for symptomatic gallstones is the removal of the gall bladder. This is accomplished in most cases via a laparoscopic approach, which involves small incisions in the abdominal wall.