Gallbladder polyps are a common finding on abdominal scans. Should you be concerned? Are they likely to lead to cancer? Should you have your gallbladder removed? These are all common questions asked by our patients. I hope this article will give you practical and helpful information.

Polyps in the gallbladder usually do not cause any symptoms and are generally discovered incidentally during an upper abdominal ultrasound. The good news is approximately 95 percent of gallbladder polyps are benign, meaning they are not cancerous. There is potential for them to become cancerous in the future, so it’s best to be monitored and try your best to improve your health.

If one or more polyps have been found in your gallbladder, you should have another ultrasound in three to six months to check if they’ve increased in size. Gallbladder polyps should not have increased in size significantly after that time. If a polyp has turned cancerous, it usually becomes substantially larger in that time frame.

Some doctors recommend the gallbladder be removed if a polyp is greater than 0.4 inches in size because of the risk it may turn cancerous. This is usually not necessary. It’s best to just keep monitoring it with ultrasounds and in the meantime, follow the healthy guidelines in our book, Save your Gallbladder Naturally and what to do if you have already lost it. Chronic irritation to the lining of your gallbladder can lead to polyps forming eventually. Your gallbladder lining can get inflamed if your liver is not producing healthy bile. People with a fatty liver, inflamed liver or sluggish liver typically make poor quality bile. People with high cholesterol are usually in the same scenario. My liver tonic Livatone is specifically designed to improve bile quality and promote bile secretion. Taking an ox bile supplement is also helpful because it increases the amount of bile salts in the gallbladder, and reduces bile sludge.

Nutrient deficiencies can also raise the risk of gallbladder polyps forming. Specifically, vitamin D and selenium deficiency can increase the risk of polyps in the first place, and make it more likely for them to turn sinister. In many parts of the world it is difficult to obtain sufficient levels of these nutrients, therefore a supplement may be necessary.

Lastly, NAC (n-acetyl cysteine) is a very useful supplement for anyone concerned about gallbladder polyps. This is because it enables your liver to produce glutathione. Glutathione is a powerful detoxifier, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. You want as much of this as possible if you are trying to heal a polyp.

Since polyps can be a precancerous condition, it is important to do everything you can, to strengthen your immune system and have a healthy liver and gallbladder.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.

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