Ask Dr. Oz: Gall Bladder Removal

An audience member tells Dr. Oz that she had her gallbladder removed and asks him if her body acts differently without it.

Dr. Oz notes that the body should have a gallbladder. Dr. Oz explains that the gallbladder is a reservoir that stores up bile, so that the liver does not have to keep making tons of it when needed. Depending on how fatty an eaten meal is, the gallbladder will squeeze out the extra bile the body needs to help dissolve the food.

Dr. Oz further explains that when the gallbladder is taken out, the body loses that extra reservoir, so the liver has to constantly make the bile the body needs, sometimes causing stomach irritation. Without a gallbladder, Dr. Oz notes that it is wise to be careful about the food one eats.

Dr. Oz asks the audience member how the gallbladder was removed, and notes that it can be removed through invasive surgery, or by the newer-minimally invasive surgical technique of laparoscopy (using fiber optic scopes and smaller incisions).