Gallstone Disease May Increase Risk of Heart Disease

People with a history of gallstone disease may be at greater risk of developing heart disease, according to researchers from Tulane University.

For the study, researchers studied data from more than 840,000 men and women as part of seven existing studies, looking closely at the correlation between gallstone disease and heart disease. They discovered that participants with gallstone disease had a 23% greater risk of developing heart disease.

Some people may disregard these findings, believing the link is associated with other adverse health factors such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. However, researchers say that participants without these adverse health markers were actually more likely to develop heart disease than their counterparts who did not have them.

Of course, gallstone disease is an all-too-common gastrointestinal disorder, affecting millions of people in the United States. It has similar risk factors as heart disease, including diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and poor diet. Gallstone disease is characterized by the accumulation of hardened deposits of fluid within the gallbladder, which is a small organ found directly under the liver.

And heart disease is the leading the cause of death among men and women in the U.S., with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimating that some 600,000 Americans die from it each year. Heart disease is often called the "silent killer," because it manifests while showing few-to-no signs. It's not until the damage has already been done when heart disease is often diagnosed.

The good news is that you can protect yourself from both gallstone disease and heart disease by taking a proactive approach towards your health. This includes looking for the risk factors of these disease, which as stated above is high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity. If you have any of these risk factors, talk with your doctor to see if you are at risk for developing either gallstone disease or heart disease. A custom dieting and exercise regimen can often overcome these hurdles while protecting you from these, and other, diseases.

"Our results suggest that patients with gallstone disease should be monitored closely based on a careful assessment of both gallstone and heart disease risk factors,” said Dr. Lu Qi, one of the study's lead authors. “Preventing gallstone disease may also benefit heart health.”

This study was published in the American Heart Association’s journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.