Viability of draining the gallbladder to control cholesterol?

[Bohandas]

Way back in a nutrition class I took in college I learned that the major part of the reason why fiber helps control cholesterol is that it interferes with the reabsorption of bile, thus forcing the body to use cholesterol to make more bile and temporarily reducing the body's ability to absorb fats.

Hearing this, the thought occurred to me that if one were to surgically implant a permanent tube from the gallbladder to the outside of the body through which bile could periodically be drained it could hypothetically achieve the same effect with far far greater efficiency.

Is there any reason, other than the the high cost and recovery time of invasive surgery, why this would be impractical or non-viable?

[Keltest]

Well, as a rule of thumb, having permanent holes opened up in your body is going to invite all sorts of medical complications, but lets assume we drill it into somebody who always has perfect medical operations with no side effects.

First off, im pretty sure this would be pretty gross to be around. Innards smell and come with all sorts of other wonderful things that people don't really like being exposed to. While my experience with bile directly out of the gallbladder is limited, I cant imagine it would smell like spring flowers. Even if you get used to it, youre probably going to be actively offensive to people around you.

Secondly, that equipment is probably going to need maintenance. Tubes get clogged, and wear down and whatever youre using to control the flow of bile will wear out eventually, and you probably need some sort of monitor for bile levels which will come with more moving parts. The costs of that will continue to grow the longer you do this.

Thirdly, having a bunch of equipment hanging off of you is going to get physically uncomfortable pretty quickly. I know I certainly wouldn't want to put up with it unless it was strictly medically necessary.


Certainly its possible. There are a few conditions where people actually do have to have stuff like this attached to them, because they cant expel whatever is getting drained otherwise. I just cant imagine why you would want to do it. It seems amazingly burdensome for something you can achieve just by adjusting your diet. All in all, youre probably better off just eating your fiber.

[factotum]

You really don't want to be doing this. Not only are there the reasons already pointed out by Keltest, there's also the issue that bile released from the gall bladder is actually pretty important for digestion--you can't digest fats properly without it, and that will cause you all sorts of problems.

[Bohandas]

It wouldn't be constantly drained to zero. It would be periodically expressed. And I get that draining it right after eating would give you diarrhea similar to the effects of olestra; still diarrhea vs coronary artery disease, I'll take the diarrhea. (and yes I also get that even considering this you'd occasionally have to stop expressing it in order to replenish omega 3s, vitamin d, etc.)

[Bohandas]

Thirdly, having a bunch of equipment hanging off of you is going to get physically uncomfortable pretty quickly. I know I certainly wouldn't want to put up with it unless it was strictly medically necessary.

This is a good point. Somehow I keep forgetting that in real life biomedical ports generally aren't flush with the skin the way they are in The Matrix

[Knaight]

Certainly its possible. There are a few conditions where people actually do have to have stuff like this attached to them, because they cant expel whatever is getting drained otherwise. I just cant imagine why you would want to do it. It seems amazingly burdensome for something you can achieve just by adjusting your diet. All in all, youre probably better off just eating your fiber.

Most notably there are ostomy bags - which are a pretty close equivalent to this, to the point that you could use highly similar equipment (though probably with a much smaller port). Said bags are a pretty big hassle, have various risks associated, and can get very expensive very quickly due to the amount of disposable stuff attached and how expensive disposable biomedical equipment is.

[snowblizz]

Most notably there are ostomy bags - which are a pretty close equivalent to this, to the point that you could use highly similar equipment (though probably with a much smaller port). Said bags are a pretty big hassle, have various risks associated, and can get very expensive very quickly due to the amount of disposable stuff attached and how expensive disposable biomedical equipment is.

A friend of a friend had one IIRC. Something like it at least. You do indeed not want to be involved with things like that unless you relly (really) have to.

Said friend died young years ago too. Though of the illness that necessitated this particular fannypack I believe.


I don't think the "energy drain" of draining bile is going to come close to "just stop eating those damned donuts and firend foods ok".

[Knaight]

A friend of a friend had one IIRC. Something like it at least. You do indeed not want to be involved with things like that unless you relly (really) have to.
The reason I'm familiar with them is a close family member having one, so I've seen the difficulties up close and personal. It's better than the sort of things treated with ostomy bags (in this case colon cancer), but it's far worse than a diet change.


Said friend died young years ago too. Though of the illness that necessitated this particular fannypack I believe.
My condolences.

[Alent]

No disrespect intended- If this hypothetical were taken to the step of implementation, it would be stupidity on the scale of "winning a darwin award by urinating on an electrified train rail".

Earlier comments have focused on the technical problems and ignored the side effects. I've lived what happens when your gallbladder's plumbing malfunctions and plugs up with gallstones. When the structural weakness of adding an extra valve to your bile duct inevitably clogs it, the pain will be equivalent to natural childbirth. If left untreated it will painfully and slowly kill you.

The entire Digestive system is one that you generally want to leave alone unless some damage, disease, or other problem has caused it to not work correctly.

[Dodom]

The process of removing bile to lower cholesterol used to be an acceptable treatment, until statins were developped which had fewer side effects.
Only, it's not necessary to physically drain the bile to remove it, when it's fairly easy to expose it to chemical action during its cycle through the intestine, binding it into an unabsorbable form so it's eliminated in stool.

I didn't remember the name of such drugs, but google gave me "bile acid sequestrant" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bile_acid_sequestrant) (wiki link for description)

So, the process exists and has clinical uses, but it doesn't have to be nearly that invasive!

[Hardcore]

Lower cholesterol levels are experienced by those on LCHF diet. They probably eat less Fibre than most since they avoid bread and potatoes.