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Article: The galling plight of gallstones.
- Article from:
- FDA Consumer
- Article date:
- November 1, 1985
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1985 U.S. Government Printing Office. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Proudly displayed in the curio cabinet in days gone by, in the place of honor beside the bronzed baby shoes, sat a keepsake of another kind--a small amber glass jar filled with gallstones. Surgeons used to send patients home with their gallstones. Some still do, but--thankfully--exhibiting them has gone out of style.
It is estimated that about 25 million Americans--about three quarters of them women--are carrying these potential trophies around in their gallbladders. About half of the people who have developed these stones don't know they have them. They trudge through life blissfully unaware because the stones aren't bothersome.
The stone carriers ...