Norman Swan

I was going to become a surgeon at one point.

And I did remove a gallbladder.

The other question that we've been asked today –

It's certainly not vestigial.

The gallbladder takes bile from the liver when it's not needed.

So bile helps to dissolve fats in the bowel.

And then when it's needed, the gallbladder squirts it out into the bowel, the small intestine, and it helps your body absorb fat from food.

And what happens in the gallbladder, because it's very function, increases the risk of stones because you've got the bile coming into the gallbladder.

It's stored there.

It's static fluid.

And it's easy to imagine how gallstones can emerge.

Certainly, if you've got symptomatic gallstones, the complications of having gallstones that aren't treated are significant.

And therefore, there are good reasons for removing the gallbladder.

So you do have trouble digesting fats, and that may actually have an unpleasant effect when you go to the bathroom.

I'm not going to go into that, given people might be eating as we talk.

But usually it settles down with time.

It's all about risk versus reward or risk versus benefit.

If you're having recurrent tonsillitis, your life is miserable, you've developed abscesses, there's actually a risk from the infection itself, or you've got obstructive breathing, or a child has, get it out.

With the appendix, it's similar.

If you've got a grossly affected appendix and it's gone too far for antibiotics, then you want that out.