Deposition of cholesterol in the gallbladder leads to the appearance of microscopic stones ("sand"), which over time increases in size. Merging together for 5-20 years, "grains" form large stones.
In a healthy human bile in the gallbladder is located does not form stones, being in the liquid state. But there are various factors that contribute to changes in the properties of bile, and consequently, the formation of stones. These include:
- Violation of the outflow of bile and bile stasis (an extended delay of bile cholesterol precipitates and is deposited on protein scaffolds);
- Elevated levels of cholesterol in the bile (cholesterol may rise for many reasons: diabetes, excessive consumption of fatty foods, obesity, prolonged use of oral contraceptives in women, disorders of lipid metabolism in the body);
- To disruption of bile flow can lead a sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, especially too large gaps between meals, as well as pregnancy (the main estrogen, which appears in the majority of women during pregnancy, causes the secretion of bile);
- Contact with gall bladder infection, cholecystitis (infection of bacteria from the gut of the gallbladder leads to inflammation of the mucous membrane it - cholecystitis, which creates favorable conditions for the deposition of bile components in the gallbladder wall and the formation of stones in it).