Sometimes, when the gallbladder is not functioning properly, it fails to concentrate the dye and poor films are the result. However, a non-functioning gallbladder on a cholecystogram is indicative of disease. Sometimes the dye is given by injection.
Ultrasound scanning may also be used in detecting gallstones.
Once the diagnosis is made, treatment will be recommended. Of course, this will depend on the symptoms from which the patient is suffering and whether any complications are present.
Large gallstones discovered accidentally, and which are causing no symptoms, are probably best left alone. Multiple small stones are better removed.
This is because they are prone to move and enter the common bile duct, obstructing it. Operation is then a matter of urgency and is more difficult and requires a longer convalesence.
Unfortunately, operation remains the main way of dealing with this problem. It usually only involves a stay of five to seven days in hospital.
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Because most doctors are male, many may not fully appreciate how severe the worry can be to the woman with an excess of body or facial hair. Not every woman with the problem needs to be fully investigated by special tests. A full history and examination usually including a pelvic examination to assess the reproductive organs, should exclude most of the serious disorders. It may be necessary occasionally to carry out hormonal assays by blood tests.
Unfortunately, there is no simple or effective treatment. If there is a definite cause for increased androgen activity it should be treated.
Drugs are sometimes used to counteract the androgen effect. Cortisone in small doses may be effective and the Pill is often used for the same reason. Sometimes, the two are combined. ”
In those who are both obese and hairy, reducing weight may restore the body’s hormonal balance and solve both problems.
In most cases, bleaching the offending hairs so they become less noticeable is acceptable only to a minority. Yet this can be combined with other treatment so that these methods need be used less frequently.
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Say your doctor tells you that one in twenty (five per cent) of patients with your particular type and stage of cancer are cured with a particular treatment. The median survival is twelve months. The five year survival is one in twenty (five per cent). What does this mean for you? It means that if you have this treatment, there is a fifty-fifty chance that you will live less than twelve months. There is only a one in twenty chance that you will live five years but if you do, you will know you are almost certainly completely cured. Imagine for the same situation, if your doctor simply said ‘You could be completely cured and live as long as you would have if you had never had the cancer’. This is true but doesn’t really give a complete picture. A patient told only this would be much more likely to agree to a twelve month course of intensive chemotherapy than a patient who knew that there was a fifty per cent chance of dying before even completing the treatment. So do make sure that you get more detailed information than what is possible but unlikely. This is the part the doctor is most likely to tell you, but on its own and without percentage figures it can be very misleading.
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