Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-06-15
Gall Bladder
Serves as.
Reservoir
lis Peculiarly of Bile
. Canal System
BY DIR. LOGAN CLENDENING

BY DIR. LOGAN CLENDENING
A MONG its many functions,
"A the liver secretes bile. 1t
manufactures bile from the re-
mains of broken-down red blood
cells.
The bile flows in small chan
nels and bile ducts until it
empties into the intestine In its
upper part. :,
A popularity of the bile canal
system Is that II backs up into
a reservoir or sac called the gall
bladder.
Just exactly what purpose the
gall bladder has Is more or less a
mystery. II can be removed in
man without any outward conse-
quence.
A great many animals do not
have a gall bladder, among these,
the horse, the deer, the elephant,
the rat, the pocket gopher and
the pigeon.
why" writes a certain path
ologist, with Byronic despair,
'the cow should possess . gall
bladder, but not tho rat, the
striped gopher but not the
pocket gopher, the hen but not
tho pigeon, II certainly difficult
of explanation"
] am sure that I cannot ex-
plain IL. I presume this path
ologist has asked the pocket
gopher and received no satisfac-
tory reply.
THE most reasonable explana-
Il ton for the existence of the
gall bladder is that II stores bile
when II Is excreted in excess and
allows II to be poured out at
intervals as the digestion In the
intestine needs it. After removal
of the gall bladder the gall duct
dilates and really takes the place
of the gall bladder In forming q
reservoir.
The bile Is discharged into the
intestine when fat Is present and
plays an important part I'm the
digestion of fat. It also plays q
very important part In our we'll
being.
remember one eminent sur
geon who had a gall bladder oper-
alton after which his bile did
not flow into the intestine for
several weeks.
. He described a sense OF melan-
choly that settled on him, q lack
of interest in any meal, and the
delight which he experienced
when the bile finally did begin to
flow out and he began to digest
his fats.
A MOTHER moot point about
IA gall bladder plhysiol0gy II
whether Il empties it, contents
more or less psssively o. BY con-
traction of its own muscles.
The consensus OF opinion at
the present time n that II
empties by contraction Of Its
muscles in the presence Of tat
In the intestine.
Thus we can empty q gall
bladder by giving q fat meal.
such as the yolk Of an egg or q
well-buttered piece OF toast, and
this fact II helpful In the troofc
ment OF certain forms at esd
bladder infection.
1t II interesting to note that
In pregnant animals the gall
bladder does not empty very
readily even with the presence
of fat I'm the intestines
This has significance In view
OF the fact that pregnancy often
precipitates an infection Of the
gall bladder and gall stones, prob
ably due 20 the fact that the
stasis of the bile during this
period renders infection easy.
QUESTIONS, ANSWERS
II. L. E.:-Does plain white
sugar destroy calcium? Would
a glass of warm water contain
ing q teaspoonful of salt taken
each morning before breakfast
harden the arteries or lift the
blood pressure above normal?
Answer: Sugar has no effect
on calcium whatever. Warm
water and salt have no effect on
the blood pressure or on hard
ening Of the arteries.