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The reason for the stone formation is not straightforward. And some folks will think that, “Well, I am a little bit heavier than most of my friends and maybe that’s why I developed gallstones.” It is actually not the case. It has to do more with the fractions of various components of the bile. Whenever that is some type of an imbalance, stones will precipitate or form. And then each particle of sand is going to sort of adhere to each other and then the stones are formed, and potentially they may cause significant problems. Now, one has to remember really that many, many people in the United States, maybe about 20% of general population, will have stones. However, that is not an indication for surgery. The indication for surgery is only when you actually develop symptoms from these gallstones. And that happens in a relatively small part, maybe about a fifth of people who have gallstones will develop symptoms and thus require surgery.
