Dalai Lama has gallstone surgery

Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is recovering well after surgery Friday to remove gallstones. The operation was performed at a hospital in New Delhi, India.

The Dalai Lama, 73, is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days and will likely be back at work by the end of October, his spokesman said Friday, CBC News reported.

In August, the Dalai Lama was admitted to a hospital in Mumbai, India, for four days and underwent tests for abdominal discomfort. Doctors said he was suffering from exhaustion and advised him to rest.

Just a few days ago, doctors told the Dalai Lama he was fit to resume his world travels. But he was hospitalised Thursday after a new bout of abdominal pain, CBC News reported.

More about gallstones
Gallstones form when liquid stored in the gallbladder hardens into pieces of stone-like material. They can be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a golf ball, or almost any combination.

Many people with gallstones have no symptoms and are unaware they have them until the stones show up in tests performed for another reasons. When symptoms do develop it is usually because the gallbladder wall becomes inflamed, or because the stones have moved out of the gallbladder and blocked the tube connected to the intestine.

People over age 60 are more likely to develop gallstones than younger people. Among the many causes of gallstones are obesity, diabetes and fasting, which decreases gallbladder movement, causing the bile to become over concentrated with cholesterol, which can lead to gallstones.

– (Health24, HealthDay News, October 2008)