How common are gallstones?

Provided by: Healthwise
50% of users found this article helpful.

About 700,000 people in the United States need surgery for gallstones each year.1 In the United States, about 10% of people older than 40 have gallstones.2

More women than men develop gallstones. People who are obese are more likely to develop gallstones than people who are not overweight.

References

Citations

  1. Glasgow RE, Mulvihill SJ (2006). Treatment of gallstone disease. In M Feldman et al., eds., Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, 8th ed., vol. 1, pp. 1419–1442. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier.

  2. Persley KM, Jain R (2005). Gallstones and biliary tract disease. In DC Dale, DD Federman, eds., ACP Medicine, section 4, chap. 6. New York: WebMD.

Credits

Author Monica Rhodes
Editor Kathleen M. Ariss, MS
Associate Editor Pat Truman
Primary Medical Reviewer Kathleen Romito, MD
- Family Medicine
Specialist Medical Reviewer Jerome B. Simon, MD, FRCPC, FACP
- Gastroenterology
Last Updated August 2, 2007
Last Updated: 08/02/2007

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