Chapter 35, Problem 10A

Summary Introduction

To explain:

Why a person can be able to live without the gall bladder and how will it affects the person’s ability to digest food.

Introduction:

The gallbladder is a small storage organ that is located under the liver in the abdomen and plays a crucial role in the digestion of food. It stores Bile that is constantly produced by the liver as a hormonal response, gets released in the duodenum(small intestine), and helps in the breakdown of fats, whereas when not needed gets stored in the gallbladder for later use. This bile can crystallize in the gall bladder and may cause gallstones which are very painful and can block the tiny pipes used in the movements of bile around and can cause a life-threatening situation. People going through this condition need to get their gall bladder removed by a technique called a cholecystectomy.

Explanation of Solution

When the gallbladder is removed from the patient’s body there will be no place to store the bile produced by the liver which now will directly enter into the small intestine allowing to digest most foods. This still allows the digestion of most of the food and does not majorly affect the survival of the individual moreover does not cause any observable harm to health and digestion. However, a wide variety of fats or high-fiber food becomes much harder to digest relatively resulting in bloating, fat malabsorption, gas, and diarrhea.

Conclusion

Since the gallbladder is a storage organ and itself it is non-essential, removing it would not be a risk to the survival of patients. However, the fat and high-fiber digestion do become much harder to digest than before so dietary changes are very necessary for the patient after removal of the gall bladder such as limiting fat intake, small portion but regular uptake, limiting fiber intake, and limit caffeine(as it increases the stomach acid production and makes stomach empty faster).