Gallbladder Disease

Abstract

In a weighted random sample of the specially enumerated population of a South Wales industrial town, examined by cholecystography for gallstones, the overall prevalence rates were 6.2 per cent for men 45 to 69 years of age and 12.1 per cent for women of the same ages. Contrary to our expectation there was no marked increase in prevalence with age in either sex. Symptoms of dyspepsia said to be suggestive of gallstones were found with approximately equal frequency in those with and without gallbladder disease. (N Engl J Med 294:1147–1149, 1976)