Women Get More Gallstones Than Men. But Why?

Gallstones, the NHS said, are “common”, affecting about one in 10 UK adults. They’re small “stones,” usually made out of cholesterol, that form in the bladder. 

They don’t usually cause any problems, the health service added. But when they do, eg when they get stuck in a bile duct, they can cause “severe” pain. Complications, like gallstone disease, can also arise. 

Your risk of getting gallstones rises once you’re over 40, and if you’re a woman, especially if you’re a woman who’s had children.

But why? 

Why are women more likely to get gallstones than men?

65 to 75% of people with gallstones are women. 

Researchers think this is down to the hormones oestrogen and progesterone, which are primary sex hormones involved in everything from the menstrual cycle to pregnancy and women’s bone health.

Bile, which is made in the liver, helps to digest fats and absorb some vitamins. It ends up in the gallbladder and, when the body senses you’ve consumed fats, it contracts and releases that bile into your intestines. 

But if there’s more cholesterol in your gallbladder than the bile can process, or if your gallbladder doesn’t empty often enough, cholesterol stones – the most common form – can grow. 

“Oestrogen increases cholesterol in the bile, and progesterone slows the emptying of the gallbladder,” Harvard Health added. 

Those two factors can significantly increase your risk of gallstones.

So what happens after menopause? 

If hormones create this heightened risk, does their natural decline in menopause lower your risk of gallstones? 

Yes, basically, it turns out. 

“Before age 40, women are diagnosed with gallstones almost three times more often than men are (pregnancy, for example, increases the risk), but by age 60, their risk is just slightly greater,” Harvard Health explained. 

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can slightly up your risk, but skin patches and gels are less likely to increase your likelihood of developing gallstones than pills.