It's two times greater with the lower doses of estrogen and four times greater with the higher doses. This doesn't mean that you should avoid HRT just to avoid gallstones. I wouldn't advise anybody to go off HRT because of the risk of gallstones. So if the gallbladder is sluggish, cholesterol crystals can grow and grow. While we can't do anything about being born female, Mexican-American, Native American or Swedish, we can tackle our weight.
Obesity is associated with increased secretion of cholesterol in the bile.
This allows supersaturation, which causes cholesterol crystals to precipitate out and become stones. One landmark study of 88,837 women done by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that slightly overweight women had almost twice the chance of developing gallstones as women of normal weight. Obese women were six times more likely to form stones. But the way we lose weight is important, too. So doctors give this advice to help women dodge stone problems.