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 Hardened deposits known as gallstones form in the gallbladder when
the bile contains too much cholesterol or other abnormal substances,
and while the cause is not fully understood, factors like obesity,
high-calorie diets and metabolic syndrome are associated with
gallstone risk.
The same factors increase the risk for coronary heart disease, which
kills 370,000 Americans per year, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
“Several previous studies have suggested a potential link between
gallstones and cardiovascular disease,” said senior author Dr. Lu Qi,
professor of epidemiology at Tulane University in New Orleans. “Our
study provides the first consistent evidence in a U.S. population.”
There are more than three million cases of gallstones in the U.S.
each year, according to the National Institutes of Health. If they
cause pain the whole organ can be surgically removed.
The researchers combined the results of seven U.S. studies including
more than 800,000 people and 51,000 cases of coronary heart disease
– defined in the studies as heart attack or having a procedure to
clear a blocked artery to the heart.
Six percent of women and 3 percent of men had a history of
gallstones. These people tended to be older, were more often smokers
or regular aspirin users, were less physically active, had a higher
body mass index and more often had a history of high blood pressure,
diabetes or high cholesterol than others, according to the results
in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.
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After adjusting for the common heart disease risk factors, as well
as age, lifestyle and other factors, researchers found that people
with a history of gallstones had a 23 percent higher risk of
coronary heart disease compared to others.
“Our study is observational in nature,” Qi said, which can’t
determine cause and effect. “Further investigations are needed to
demonstrate whether the observed relation is causal.”
Obesity, diabetes, being female, and eating foods high in fat and
cholesterol and low in fiber all increase the risk of gallstones,
which affects up to 25 percent of adults in the Western world, Qi
said.
Patients with gallstones should be monitored closely based on a
careful assessment of gallstone and heart disease risk factors, Qi
said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2b9uv3z Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and
Vascular Biology, online August 18, 2016.
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