For most college students and working professionals living on their own, the first meal of the day is usually consumed well into the afternoon.
The moment our moms stop forcing food down our throats before we leave home, we start slacking and skipping breakfast. Well, this shocking incident we are about to share has something to do with skipping your breakfast.
Doctors have removed more than 200 gallstones from the body of a 45-year-old woman in China.
According to reports, the woman, identified only as Ms. Chen, claimed that her stomach pain started more than 10 years ago but her fear of surgery kept her from seeking medical aid.
The woman visited Guanji Hospital, in Hezhou, China, where it was revealed through tests that she had a number of gallstones. According to experts, they built up over the years. Surgeons consequently operated and removed the stones from the gall bladder and bile ducts. The size of some of the stones was quite large even as big as eggs.
Reports say that Dr. Quan Xuwei, a general surgeon, said the stones could have resulted from her habit of skipping breakfast. Chen said that she had not eaten breakfast for eight years and she also frequently ate leftovers.
Dr. Quan explained that if someone misses breakfast it stops their gallbladder from shrinking or expanding, leading to a build-up of bile. This accumulation of bile led to the formation of stones.
According to Dr. George Webster, the vice president of the British Society of Gastroenterology, what time a person eats has no known effect on the existence of gallstones or liver stones, and to claim otherwise is “pure speculation, with no scientific evidence base to support it.”
Webster explained that gall stones and liver stones are common problems worldwide, but it is most common in China and eastern Asia.
According to reports, it took six and a half hours of surgery to remove the 200-plus stones from Chen’s body, some of which were described by the hospital as being as large as eggs. However, if Quan’s theory is correct, regularly eating a big breakfast with eggs might have prevented her from ever having egg-sized stones in the first place.
Morning fluid, food, and fiber together help to cleanse the system. Therefore skipping that meal affects digestion and may trigger a range of health ailments.
Weight gain is one of the most common repercussions of skipping meals, especially breakfast. If made into a habit, it may also lead to digestive issues, headaches, and metabolic diseases like diabetes.
More from Opposing Views:
There are two types of gallstones, explains the Mayo Clinic. Cholesterol gallstones, composed mainly of undissolved cholesterol and yellow in appearance, are the most common. The other type, known as Pigment gallstones, are dark brown or black, and form when there is too much bilirubin present in the body’s bile.
As explained by the University of Michigan’s Division of Gastroenterology, gallstones and liver stones are the same, just located in different areas of the body.
The details are summarized:
Bile duct stones are gallstones in the bile duct. They can start in the gallbladder and migrate into the bile duct or they can form in the bile duct itself. The stones can become lodged in the bile duct, causing a blockage. … Stones may pass spontaneously out of the bile duct on their own. However, when a stone gets stuck in the bile duct, medical intervention is necessary, otherwise inflammation, bacterial infection, and even severe organ damage can occur.
Sources: OpposingViews, Daily Mail, Mayo Clinic, University of Michigan
