Gallbladder Disease Often Comes After Heavy Holiday Meals, Doctor Warns

Some patients with no risk factors or history of gallbladder problems find themselves seeing a doctor after just one large meal. 

Problems associated with the gallbladder are common after large meals, like those around the holidays associated with an increase in doctor visits. Shutterstock

Most everyone looks forward to a bit of indulgence when holiday meals roll around. Yet for a percentage of the population, discomfort hits about 20 minutes into dinner, and they end up seeing a gastroenterologist within days.

It’s a trend that Dr. Daniel Davila, a gastrointestinal surgeon at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, sees every year, starting after Thanksgiving.