When can gallstones be a cause for concern? DR MARTIN SCURR answers your health questions –

A recent ultrasound to check my fatty liver showed that I also have gallstones. I have no symptoms, but have not been able to make a personal appointment with my GP to discuss what may need to be done. I feel like I’m in the dark. I am 74 years old and suitable for my age.

Don Rae, Allan Bridge, Stirlingshire.

Gallstones, medically known as cholelithiasis, are small stones that form in the gallbladder, usually made of cholesterol.

Hidden under the liver, this pocket-like organ stores bile, a fluid produced by the liver that helps break down fatty foods.

In most cases, these stones do not cause symptoms and do not require treatment, and their presence is often discovered incidentally, such as when you have had a scan for another reason.

Gallstones are very common: about 6% of men and 9% of women have them, and the possible causes are many: from age to obesity to sudden weight loss.

I can understand it’s a pity not to get advice on what to do, but the official advice is not to mess with it unless it causes problems.

Surgery to remove them is only considered if they cause complications such as acute cholecystitis (a gallbladder infection), pancreatitis (acute inflammation of the pancreas), or biliary colic (when a stone migrates from the gallbladder and causes a blockage in someone). from nearby ducts that carry bile to the intestines – this is extremely painful and requires immediate medical attention).

The surgery involves removing both the gallbladder and stones and is done under general anesthesia.

Symptoms that indicate complications usually come on suddenly and include severe pain in the upper right abdomen, high fever and nausea, but you don’t need surgery or treatment because you don’t.

But if you develop any of the complications described above, you should be immediately listed for gallbladder removal surgery, which is normally done during keyhole surgery. Hopefully, an opportunity arises when you can discuss the matter with a doctor in your practice.

I’ve suffered from annoying little cuts in the corner of my mouth for years. I have tried many remedies but no luck. Can you suggest something?

Brian Gibson via email.

Also known as angular cheilitis, it looks like angular stomatitis, a condition more common in older people, where saliva collects at the corners of the mouth and causes cracking.

The environment there – with a constant supply of moisture – encourages fungi and bacteria to thrive and cause inflammation.

Eczema, unsuitable dentures, and drooling while sleeping can make the condition worse.

There is some evidence that a deficiency of certain nutrients, particularly insufficient B vitamins, iron or protein, may play a role.

Other risk factors include long-term smoking and the wrinkles we get with age. I recommend taking a tube of two percent clotrimazole cream (available at the pharmacy under the brand name Canesten) and applying it sparingly with your little finger twice a day for at least two weeks.

This remedy is both antifungal and antibacterial and is expected to repair inflamed cracks.

After that, make it a habit to apply some Vaseline in the same way twice a day to prevent your skin from drying out.

This should almost certainly be effective.

write to scer

Write to Dr Scurr at Good Health, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email: drmartin@dailymail.co.uk – please provide your contact details. Dr. Scurr cannot access personal correspondence. Answers should be taken in a general context. Consult your doctor if you have any health problems.