Repeated indigestion and abdominal pain while dieting… suspect gallstones
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St. Peter's Hospital 26-08-14 00:00Main content
Repeated indigestion and abdominal pain while dieting… suspect gallstones
Reporter Ha, Ji Su
Posted 2026.08.14 10:35
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Sharper rise in young gallstone patients in summer
Crash dieting in summer is a factor that raises the risk of developing gallstones. [Source: Gettyimagesbank]
Crash dieting in summer is a factor that raises the risk of developing gallstones. [Source: Gettyimagesbank]
If you have suffered severe abdominal pain that felt like indigestion and then recovered within a few hours, it is easy to put it down to simple gastritis or indigestion. But if severe pain comes on suddenly in the upper abdomen or the right upper abdomen and lasts anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours, gallstone disease needs to be suspected. Extra caution is needed if you have lost weight quickly through crash dieting in summer, or if similar pain recurs after a fatty meal.
Gallstone disease is a condition in which sediment in the bile settles and hardens into stones in the gallbladder or bile ducts. The liver produces bile every day from cholesterol, fats, bile salts and protein; when the balance among these components shifts, sediment forms in the gallbladder and gallstones develop. Among them, the cholesterol gallstone, caused by excess cholesterol in the bile, is the most common type.
What stands out is the marked rise in younger patients during the summer months. Looking at the average monthly increase in patients in July and August compared with June over the past three years, the figure rose 8.4% among people in their 20s and 30s and 9.4% among those in their 40s and 50s. That is 1.5 and 1.7 times the 5.6% average increase among patients aged 60 and over during the same period.
Experts point to lifestyle habits as the reason patients in their 20s to 50s increase in summer. Park Kwan-tae, general surgery specialist and Director of the Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic & Vascular Center at St. Peter's Hospital, said, “Gallstone disease is influenced by a range of factors, including obesity, eating habits and rapid weight loss.” He added, “In summer in particular, short-term dieting, irregular meals and extreme dietary restriction all increase, so the risk of gallstone disease tends to rise among younger people.”
Rapid weight loss over a short period and restricted eating lower gallbladder function and readily bring on gallstones. Rapid weight loss with GLP-1 drugs, whose use has been growing recently, is also analysed as being linked to a higher risk of gallbladder disease such as gallstones. Extreme fasting and very-low-fat, very-low-calorie diets likewise reduce gallbladder contraction, creating conditions in which bile easily stagnates.
Treatment for gallstone disease depends on whether symptoms are present and on the risk of complications. Even when gallstones are present, if there are no symptoms and no risk of gallbladder cancer or complications, the patient is often simply monitored without treatment. If the stones cause pain, or if the risk of complications is high even without symptoms, surgical treatment is performed at the specialist’s discretion. In particular, if the stones are 3cm or larger, or if findings such as porcelain (calcified) gallbladder, gallbladder polyps or an anomalous pancreaticobiliary junction are also present, even asymptomatic gallstones are considered for prophylactic resection.
The standard method of surgical treatment is cholecystectomy. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is now mainly performed; the incision is small and, depending on the patient, discharge is possible after 1–2 days. Depending on the condition and location of the stones, however, the liver and pancreas as well as the gallbladder may need to be examined, and further treatment is sometimes required.
Director Park Kwan-tae explained, “Even among patients without symptoms, about 1–2% are known to develop pain or other symptoms each year, so continued follow-up and management are important.” He added, “Avoid lifestyle habits that raise the risk of gallstones, and if sudden abdominal pain or digestive symptoms keep recurring, we recommend getting an accurate diagnosis from a specialist.”
Reporter Ha, Ji Su ha.jisu@joongang.co.kr
Reporter Ha, Ji Su
Posted 2026.08.14 10:35
More sharing options
Save article
Font size
Sharper rise in young gallstone patients in summer
Crash dieting in summer is a factor that raises the risk of developing gallstones. [Source: Gettyimagesbank]
Crash dieting in summer is a factor that raises the risk of developing gallstones. [Source: Gettyimagesbank]
If you have suffered severe abdominal pain that felt like indigestion and then recovered within a few hours, it is easy to put it down to simple gastritis or indigestion. But if severe pain comes on suddenly in the upper abdomen or the right upper abdomen and lasts anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours, gallstone disease needs to be suspected. Extra caution is needed if you have lost weight quickly through crash dieting in summer, or if similar pain recurs after a fatty meal.
Gallstone disease is a condition in which sediment in the bile settles and hardens into stones in the gallbladder or bile ducts. The liver produces bile every day from cholesterol, fats, bile salts and protein; when the balance among these components shifts, sediment forms in the gallbladder and gallstones develop. Among them, the cholesterol gallstone, caused by excess cholesterol in the bile, is the most common type.
What stands out is the marked rise in younger patients during the summer months. Looking at the average monthly increase in patients in July and August compared with June over the past three years, the figure rose 8.4% among people in their 20s and 30s and 9.4% among those in their 40s and 50s. That is 1.5 and 1.7 times the 5.6% average increase among patients aged 60 and over during the same period.
Experts point to lifestyle habits as the reason patients in their 20s to 50s increase in summer. Park Kwan-tae, general surgery specialist and Director of the Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic & Vascular Center at St. Peter's Hospital, said, “Gallstone disease is influenced by a range of factors, including obesity, eating habits and rapid weight loss.” He added, “In summer in particular, short-term dieting, irregular meals and extreme dietary restriction all increase, so the risk of gallstone disease tends to rise among younger people.”
Rapid weight loss over a short period and restricted eating lower gallbladder function and readily bring on gallstones. Rapid weight loss with GLP-1 drugs, whose use has been growing recently, is also analysed as being linked to a higher risk of gallbladder disease such as gallstones. Extreme fasting and very-low-fat, very-low-calorie diets likewise reduce gallbladder contraction, creating conditions in which bile easily stagnates.
Treatment for gallstone disease depends on whether symptoms are present and on the risk of complications. Even when gallstones are present, if there are no symptoms and no risk of gallbladder cancer or complications, the patient is often simply monitored without treatment. If the stones cause pain, or if the risk of complications is high even without symptoms, surgical treatment is performed at the specialist’s discretion. In particular, if the stones are 3cm or larger, or if findings such as porcelain (calcified) gallbladder, gallbladder polyps or an anomalous pancreaticobiliary junction are also present, even asymptomatic gallstones are considered for prophylactic resection.
The standard method of surgical treatment is cholecystectomy. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is now mainly performed; the incision is small and, depending on the patient, discharge is possible after 1–2 days. Depending on the condition and location of the stones, however, the liver and pancreas as well as the gallbladder may need to be examined, and further treatment is sometimes required.
Director Park Kwan-tae explained, “Even among patients without symptoms, about 1–2% are known to develop pain or other symptoms each year, so continued follow-up and management are important.” He added, “Avoid lifestyle habits that raise the risk of gallstones, and if sudden abdominal pain or digestive symptoms keep recurring, we recommend getting an accurate diagnosis from a specialist.”
Reporter Ha, Ji Su ha.jisu@joongang.co.kr