Gallstone Disease May Increase Heart Disease Risk

Gallstone disease is a hardened deposit within the fluid in the gall bladder — a small organ under the liver.

The findings showed that a history of gallstone disease was linked with a 23 per cent increased risk of developing coronary heart disease. “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 Lu Qi, Professor at Tulane University in Louisiana, US.

Coronary heart disease occurred more often with a history of gallstone disease because of the shared risk factors, including diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and poor diet.

Gallstones also affects bile acid secretion, which has been related to heart disease risk factors.

Moreover, the increased risk was similar between women and men.

Participants with a history of gallstone disease who were otherwise healthy — were not obese, diabetic or had high blood pressure — had a greater risk of coronary heart disease than participants who had these conditions.

In addition, gut microbiota has been related to cardiovascular disease.

“Patients with gallstones also have abnormal abundance and metabolism in their gut microbiota”, Qi noted, in the paper published in the jounal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.

For the study, the team conducted a meta-analysis of seven studies consisting of a total of 8,42,553 participants and 51,123 cases of coronary heart disease. A separate analysis of 2,69,142 participants from three different studies, was also done to analyse the relationship between history of gallstones and the development of coronary heart disease.