Cheno and Urso: What the Goose and the Bear Have in Common

Abstract

One of the most exciting and potentially one of the most important developments in gastroenterology of recent years is the possibility of medical dissolution of cholesterol gallstones. Gallstone disease afflicts 10 to 20 per cent of the world's population, and in Western societies 85 per cent of gallstones are composed predominantly of cholesterol. The prevalence of stones increases with age, is higher in females than in males, is definitely greater in American Indians than in whites and is increased in patients with ileal disease and possibly in patients with obesity and Type IV hyperlipoproteinemia.The successful introduction of chenodeoxycholic acid . . .