Cholecystitis occurs as a result of irritation and inflammation of the gallbladder (an organ located near the liver and involved in digestion). Bile is excreted from the body mainly through the small intestine, but sometimes there can be problems with its release, as a result of which it accumulates in the gallbladder. This leads to pain and infection.
Function of the gallbladder in the body
What is the function of the gallbladder? This organ secretes a secret that dilutes the food processed by gastric juice, changing gastric digestion to intestinal. It activates the peristalsis of the small intestine and the production of physiological mucus, which plays a protective role. Along with this, it neutralizes cholesterol, bilirubin and some other substances, and also stimulates the production of enzymes.
Who is at risk?
As a rule, cholecystitis occurs in parallel with inflammation of the ducts. The disease is quite common. Most often, the treatment of cholecystitis and chronic cholecystitis is required for women. In the fairer sex, this disease occurs3-8 times more likely than men of the same age.
Why are women more prone to this disease? Most often, it develops during pregnancy due to chronic squeezing of the gallbladder by the fetus. The result is an imbalance and stagnation of bile.
Progesterone, which is produced in large quantities during pregnancy and menopause, along with other female hormones, adversely affects the gallbladder. In addition, women love to go on diets that lead to a violation of his motor skills.
The risk group, regardless of age and gender, includes people who have previously suffered:
- intestinal or liver infection;
- parasitic disease (helminthic and protozoal invasion localized in the intestine or liver);
- cholelithiasis with blockage or development of bedsores on the gallbladder mucosa;
- a disease that disrupts the blood supply to the gallbladder.
These reasons are due to either a violation of the obstruction (patency), or impaired motility of the gallbladder.
Types of diseases
According to the course of the disease, cholecystitis of the liver can be acute or chronic. The physiology of the gallbladder is close to that of the liver, the functions of which are quite diverse. The main one is the constant production of bile and excretion into the duodenum. Excess bile accumulates in the gallbladder and is consumed gradually.
Cholecystitis disease can be divided by etiological basis into 2groups: calculous (translated from Latin Calculus means "stone") and non-calculous (stoneless).
Inflammation can be of a different nature, depending on which cholecystitis is divided into catarrhal, purulent, mixed, gangrenous and phlegmonous. The last two types of cholecystitis are included in one group - destructive cholecystitis. The exacerbation of the disease most often gives the patient a lot of discomfort. Therefore, it is important to identify the disease at an early stage and start its treatment in time. Proper treatment avoids possible complications.
Causes of inflammation
Treatment of cholecystitis and chronic cholecystitis should begin with an examination by a specialist. But first it is worth finding out why this disease arose. The reasons for the development of the disease can be very different. However, most often it occurs as a result of the accumulation of stones in the gallbladder, which greatly complicate the excretion of bile from the body. Another common cause of the disease is an infection or injury. Also, biliary cholecystitis can occur as a complication of serious diseases, such as diabetes. In this case, the method of treatment for the patient is prescribed individually.
As a result of these circumstances, acute cholecystitis may develop, in which inflammation of the gallbladder occurs. Chr. cholecystitis, as a rule, develops in cases where inflammation does not go away for a long period and is protracted. This causes the walls of the gallbladder to thicken.
Symptoms and diagnosischolecystitis
In the early stages, the main symptom of cholecystitis is usually a sharp pain in the right side, which a person feels just below the ribs. Pain always comes unexpectedly. The main cause of painful symptoms is a stone blocking the duct in the bladder. This leads to irritation and inflammation.
Painful sensations disappear after some time on their own or after painkillers. However, in the future there is a gradual increase in pain, which eventually becomes systematic. The development of cholecystitis is accompanied by fever, nausea and vomiting, and the person's condition gradually worsens.
Soon the patient develops jaundice, as a result of which the skin and sclera become yellowish. This is due to a violation of the flow of bile into the intestines. The main prerequisite for this is the presence of stones blocking the ducts in the bladder. A person's pulse allows you to determine the degree of infection and the development of the disease. Every patient diagnosed with cholecystitis should measure it. Exacerbation of the disease can lead to complications. Therefore, if the patient has a pulse of 80 to 130 beats per minute or higher, you should be alert. Because this is a serious sign that indicates that dangerous changes are taking place in the body.
In the chronic course of the disease, the symptoms may not manifest much, but in the future the disease may make itself felt already in a more advanced form or become acute. In this casetreatment should be carried out in a medical facility - this will avoid complications.
Symptoms are detected during examination, as well as on laboratory and instrumental examinations. Based on the patient's complaints, diseases of the liver, gastrointestinal tract and other organs that a person has suffered earlier are determined. When confirming the diagnosis, certain drugs are prescribed. Treatment of cholecystitis and chronic cholecystitis is started only after agreement with the doctor.
Most often, patients complain of severe pain in the area below the ribs, indigestion, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation or bloating. Among other symptoms, a furred tongue should be distinguished, which is a sign of stagnation of bile in the bladder. The main symptom of cholecystitis is pain, which can be determined by palpation. It usually appears regardless of the position of the body.
A fairly common symptom of this disease is nausea, which often leads to vomiting. In certain cases, these symptoms serve as a protective reaction of the body to intoxication. With cholecystitis, they are always part of the course of the disease. A feeling of nausea can be observed not only with cholecystitis, but also with appendicitis, poisoning, renal colic, ulcers, pancreatitis, or ectopic pregnancy.
To determine the exact cause of nausea and vomiting, you should pay attention to what time of day these symptoms appear, as well as when they occur after eating. It is important to pay attention to the duration of nausea, whether it ends with a gag reflex. It is necessary to study the composition of the vomit(food is digested or not, are there blood clots and impurities), is there relief after vomiting.
Diarrhea, constipation and bloating are symptoms of various gastrointestinal diseases, including cholecystitis. If the disorder occurs suddenly, this indicates a complication of the disease.
Diarrhea most often occurs with dysbacteriosis while taking antibiotics to treat cholecystitis. It can also appear in various intestinal disorders, when other digestive organs are involved in the pathogenesis of the disease.
Constipation and bloating usually occur with peritonitis, acute cholecystitis. Often they occur in sedentary patients who are on bed rest for a long time.
Diagnosis
If these symptoms are present, the person should seek medical attention. The doctor finds out the complaints of patients, on the basis of which a medical history is compiled. Cholecystitis is diagnosed by various laboratory and instrumental methods. Basically, specialists use probing of the duodenum, x-ray and ultrasound to determine cholecystitis. With the help of these studies, peristalsis and patency of bile into the duodenum, as well as other important indicators of this organ are established.
Noncalculous cholecystitis
6-7 people out of 1000 have an acalculous form of cholecystitis, most often chronic. It is more common in women than in men. Some doctors believe that this type of disease can subsequently develop into calculous. Therefore, the treatment of cholecystitis and chronic cholecystitisit is important to start on time. Patients need to understand that this is not to be trifled with.
Why does acalculous cholecystitis occur? The main causative agents of this disease are: Escherichia coli, Enterococcus, Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus or mixed flora. If the patient has dysbacteriosis, colitis or enteritis, the infection can pass from the intestine to the gallbladder, or from the hepatopancreatic zone if the patient had chronic pancreatitis. In rare cases, infection develops from more distant foci in which chronic inflammation occurred. These diseases include: chronic tonsillitis, periodontal disease, appendicitis, pneumonia and others.
The disease is usually treated with traditional methods. The patient must be prescribed a special diet. It is very important that the patient eats fractionally and often. It is necessary to completely exclude fatty, fried, spicy foods, as well as carbonated and alcoholic drinks from the diet.
Currently, acalculous cholecystitis is treated with drugs such as Amoxicillin, Cefazolin, Erythromycin and some others. To normalize the digestion process, the intake of these drugs is usually combined with enzyme preparations, for example, with Festal, Mezim Forte, Pancreatin. To stimulate the secretion of bile, the patient is prescribed choleretics ("Holenzim", "Allohol" and others). Magnesium sulfate or sorbitol is prescribed to shrink the gallbladder.
Chronic disease
Chr. cholecystitis characterizes the presence of stones in the gallbladder,mild inflammatory process and periodic manifestation of symptoms of the disease. The disease can be almost asymptomatic or remind itself of hepatic colic. If the disease proceeds in a latent form, the patient may experience a feeling of heaviness on the right side in the hypochondrium. Along with this, he is tormented by flatulence, diarrhea, heartburn, and belching. These symptoms are accompanied by bitterness in the mouth. Overeating or after eating fatty foods exacerbates these discomforts.
Sudden hepatic colic usually occurs with diseases such as cholecystitis, pancreatitis, the treatment of which should be carried out under the supervision of a physician. As a rule, colic is preceded by non-compliance with the diet, heavy physical exertion, or some kind of emotional overstrain. The attack is provoked by contractions of the gallbladder and its ducts, which occur as a result of irritation of the mucous membrane with stones. In this case, a person experiences a sharp stabbing pain, localized in the right hypochondrium, flowing into the neck, right shoulder and shoulder blade. The duration of the attack varies from a few minutes to 2 days.
Colic is accompanied by high fever and vomiting, which does not bring relief. The patient feels excited, his pulse becomes arrhythmic. The disease has little effect on blood pressure. In older patients, reflex angina often begins.
The tongue becomes very wet during an attack, often a plaque appears on it. Along with this, the patient may experience bloating andpain in the hypochondrium on the right side. It is noteworthy that in this case, the blood test does not show any abnormalities, and the gallbladder and liver do not increase, there are no signs of irritation either. Attacks of colic stop as suddenly as they begin, while the patient feels some relief and weakness.
Prevention of cholecystitis
How to prevent yourself from developing this disease? To do this, it is necessary to try to maintain an optimal body weight and level of physical activity, because due to a sedentary lifestyle, stagnation of bile and the formation of stones in the bladder occur. The patient is advised to follow a special diet. From drinks it is allowed to drink compotes and weakly brewed tea. The list of allowed dishes and products includes: wheat bread, low-fat cottage cheese, vegetable soups, beef (low-fat), chicken meat, crumbly cereals and non-acidic vegetables and fruits.
Forbidden to eat: fresh pastries, lard, spinach, sorrel, fried meat, fatty fish and meat, mustard, pepper, coffee, ice cream, alcoholic beverages, convenience foods.
For the purpose of prevention, specialists prescribe ursodeoxycholic acid to patients, which prevents the appearance of stones during sudden weight loss (from 2 kg per week).
In an existing disease, preventive measures are aimed at preventing the occurrence of recurrence of inflammation and related complications. It should be noted that they may appear even after treatment. In this situation, the patient needsoperation. Cholecystitis should not be ignored and should be examined at the first sign of the disease.
Traditional medicine recipes for the treatment of cholecystitis
Treatment of cholecystitis, based on the use of various herbs and infusions, must be agreed with the attending physician. This is necessary in order to avoid a possible deterioration in he alth and well-being. Among the well-known folk remedies, medicinal collections of herbs based on immortelle, which have a choleretic effect, show good results.
Before starting treatment, it is important to accurately determine the type of disease, since taking any choleretic drug is not allowed for calculous cholecystitis. Alternative treatment of cholecystitis can be used only if the patient suffers from non-calculous cholecystitis. In the presence of a calculous form of the disease, it is possible to stimulate the release of bile with the help of herbs and medicines only on the individual prescription of a doctor.
The patient can drink herbal infusions that improve intestinal motility and blood circulation. Very useful in this case are various soothing infusions and herbal teas, as well as fresh carrot and pumpkin juices.
Many people treat non-calculous cholecystitis with homeopathy, which in some cases improves overall he alth. Taking certain homeopathic medicines can only be prescribed by the attending physician.
- When cholecystitis is very useful to drink rowan juice. It should be taken 50 ml 3 times a day 30 minutes before takingfood.
- You can treat diseases such as chronic cholecystitis, pancreatitis with a decoction of St. John's wort. It has not only a choleretic effect, but also an anti-inflammatory. To prepare it, you will need 1 tablespoon of St. John's wort and 1 cup of hot water. The broth is boiled for 15 minutes and filtered. Take 50 ml three times a day.
- Decoction of birch leaves is also quite effective in the fight against the disease. For him, take 1 tablespoon of leaves and pour 200 ml of boiling water over them. The broth should be boiled for 30 minutes, after which it must be cooled to room temperature. During cooking, the amount of broth will decrease, so it will need to be topped up with water to the volume of one glass. Drink a decoction should be 3 times a day, 50 ml before meals. This prescription is used to treat Giardia cholecystitis.
- You can make another decoction of St. John's wort, but with the addition of immortelle and corn stigmas. All ingredients are mixed in equal amounts to make 1 tablespoon of herbal tea. Then this mixture is poured into 200 ml of boiling water and boiled for 30 minutes. After that, the broth will need to be cooled to room temperature and slightly diluted with boiled water. Take this remedy 1/3 cup half an hour before meals three times a day.
- Camomile decoction helps treat non-calculous cholecystitis. For him, you need 15 g of chamomile per 1 cup of boiling water. The decoction should be drunk warm. It can also be used for enemas, which should be done no more than 2-3 times a week.
It is important to remember that in the human body everything hasimportance, each organ is important in its own way and affects the duration and fullness of life. Alternative methods are part of maintenance therapy. Since folk recipes are not able to replace antibacterial and other drugs, the patient must follow all the doctor's instructions and not neglect the medication. It is not recommended to treat the disease cholecystitis only with herbs. It is important to monitor your he alth and not ignore the symptoms of cholecystitis, even if they are minor.
