Risk Factors for the Development of Cholelithiasis in Man

(First of Two Parts) UNDERSTANDING of the causes of the cholelithiasis has progressed rapidly since the most likely candidates were first characterized as fair, fat, fertile, 40-year-old women. To summarize this progress, and to indicate how the informed clinician can now anticipate the likely occurrence of gallstones, and perhaps help prevent them, are the aims of this article. We shall emphasize mechanisms thought to underlie the various risk factors that have been identified. The causes of cholesterol-gallstone formation are understood in greater depth and detail than those for pigment-stone formation and will therefore receive greater discussion. Moreover, we shall focus.