30/04/2023
Scary, considering the number of people, especially women, who have had gall bladder surgery. However, there are many things we can do to naturally support liver and kidneys, even after surgery.
US researchers have strengthened a likely connection between gall stones (and possibly gall bladder removal, cholecystectomy) and kidney cancer. They found the risk of developing kidney cancer was strongly increased by 279% in the first 6 months after gallbladder surgery, which is quite an impressive finding. They also found that patients who had a cholecystectomy before the age of 40 had a 55% increased risk of developing kidney cancer. The team used the statistical genetic method of Mendelian randomisation, drawing on data from large prospective epidemiological (observational) studies. This method uses the measured variation in genes of known function to strengthen the causal effect of a modifiable exposure on a disease occurrence in observational studies.
The cause of this relationship is uncertain. One possibility is that cholecystectomy for the treatment of symptomatic gallstones could lead to increased excretion of bile acids, and the associated increased urinary excretion of bile acids could in turn lead to oxidative stress and damage to the kidneys, eventually leading to kidney cancer. Another possible explanation is that excess bile acids lead to increased synthesis of secondary bile acids, which may in turn can have cancer-promoting effects.
For more information see https://www.medpagetoday.com/reading-room/aga/lower-gi/104156 and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37054756/
