Men who exercise regularly are less likely than others to develop gallstones and gall bladder disease. The results of this study indicate that 34% of cases of symptomatic gallstone disease in men could be prevented by increasing exercise to 30 minutes of endurance-type training five times per week. Exercise seemed to impart a benefit to men regardless of their weight, suggesting to researchers that .physical activity may contribute to the prevention of symptomatic gallstone disease beyond its effect on weight control.

Annals of Internal Medicine (1998;128:417-425)

COMMENT: I am not certain why this study restricted the group to men as women have the majority of gallbladder disease. In fact, Dr. Thorek from the University of Illinois taught the 4F syndrome to remember risk factors for gallbladder disease Fat, Fertile (multiple pregnancies), Female, Over Forty. I suspect that the exercise would also work in women and will start to more aggressively recommend in patients suffering from this problem. As mentioned last week, supplements like whole beet concentrate and taurine are also very useful in the management of this problem.