Where There Is No Doctor 2011 329
Gallbladder Problems
The gallbladder is a small sac attached to the liver. It collects
a bitter, green juice called bile, which helps digest fatty foods.
Gallbladder disease occurs most commonly in women over 40,
people who are overweight, and people with diabetes.
Signs:
• Sharp pain in the stomach at the edge of the right rib cage:
This pain sometimes reaches up to the right side of the
upper back.
• The pain may come an hour or more after eating rich or
fatty foods. Severe pain may cause vomiting.
• Belching or burping with a bad taste.
• In severe cases, there may be fever.
• Occasionally the eyes may become yellow (jaundice).
Treatment:
♦ Do not eat greasy food. Overweight (fat) people should eat small meals and
lose weight.
♦ Take ibuprofen to calm the pain (see p. 379). Stronger painkillers are often
needed. (Aspirin will probably not help.)
♦ If the person has a fever, she should take ampicillin (p. 352).
♦ In severe or chronic cases, seek medical help. Sometimes surgery is needed.
Prevention:
Women (and men) who are overweight should try to lose weight (see p. 126).
Avoid rich, sweet, and greasy food, do not eat too much, and get some exercise.
BILIOUSNESS
In many countries and in different languages, bad-tempered persons are said
to be ‘bilious’. Some people believe that fits of anger come when a person has too
much bile.
In truth, most-bad tempered persons have nothing wrong with their gallbladders
or bile. However, persons who do suffer from gallbladder disease often live in
fear of a return of this severe pain and perhaps for this reason are sometimes
short‑tempered or continually worried about their health. (In fact, the term
‘hypochondria’, which means to worry continually about one’s own health, comes
from ‘hypo’, meaning under, and ‘chondrium’, meaning rib—referring to the position
of the gallbladder!)