Abstract
Gallstone disease is a major health problem worldwide, and its prevalence to be 10-15% in industrialized countries according to the ultrasound study. In numerous epidemiological studies, a great variety of potential risk factors for this common disease has been identified; age, family history, obesity, physical inactivity, drastic body weight loss and fasting, certain hypolipidemic drugs, total parenteral nutrition, hemolytic diseases, diabetes mellitus, inflammatory bowel diseases, alcohol abstaining. Obviously, the contribution of such factors to gallstone formation varies according to stone types, classified by major constituents such as cholesterol and/or biriubin, into cholesterol stones or pigment stones. Cholesterol gallstones are associated with obesity, hyperlipidemias, middle-aged female gender, whereas such determinants are less associated with pigment gallstones. Gallstone pathogenesis is highly multi-factorial, resulting from complex interactions that involve environmental factors, dietary factors, metabolic disturbances, and genetic susceptibility. Because of the etiological difference, clinical differentiation of stone types is crucial in clarifying the reliable determinants of causal association between risk factors and gallstone diseases.
