A group of researchers from the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology in Hyderabad have identified a gene defect in the liver that causes gall bladder stones which affects more than 6 percent of the population in India.
According to the report published in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the researchers have found that a mutation in the gene ABCG8 leads to the excess production of cholesterol in the liver which in turn causes gall stones.
Some of the major causes of gall stones include lack of exercise, eating fatty foods or high refined sugar and obesity. The only successful treatment of gall stones is done through surgery but the latest finding has fuelled hopes that a drug could be found in the near future.
Lead author of the study, D. Nageshwar Reddy revealed that the formation of gall bladder stones is more prevalent among women in India with more than 10 percent of the women population in the country affected by the disease compared to 3 percent among men. The rate of prevalence shoots up to 20 percent among elderly people.