[hamza (OP)]

What is the need of a gall bladder. and could u please also tell that which of the following animals don't need a gall bladder?
Cat, Lion, Man, Goat

[SquarishTriangle]

The gall bladder stores the bile produced by the liver (and concentrates it) during digestive rest, so that it can be readily secreted when required (when a meal needs to be digested).

In terms of need, the gall bladder isn't obligatory since the liver also produces bile on demand, but it helps ensure there is an adequate supply available for digestion.

Cats, lions, humans and goats all have gall bladders. Horses don't...they just produce hepatic bile continuously, which is appropriate to the long periods they spend feeding. You would predict that species closely related to the horse might also lack a gall bladder.

For the carnivore, meals may come relatively infrequently...so building up a good supply of bile between meals would be useful (especially if you're going to try to digest a large piece of antelope).

[Karen W.]

I don't have a galbladder anymore so I know humans can live without them!

[stana]

I don't have a galbladder anymore so I know humans can live without them!

If you dont have a gall bladder..How does that affect your digestion and break down of meals?

[Karen W.]

They told me that spicy things might upset my stomach but it is just real acidic things, like orange juice, grapefruit juice, Lemonade, LOL and lots of tomato sauce which I love and eat anyway! oranges and tomato's are fine it is just concentrated levels that give me heartburn since my Gallbladder removal.. Thats it. Sometimes high sugar products will do it!


The doctor told me that the Gallbladder only produced extra stomach acid not all of it. So he said that I would get along without it just fine. I have!! Apparently your body produces it in more then one place, besides stomach... I want to say the pancreas,the liver... is where the doctor said it was also produced!

[SquarishTriangle]

If you dont have a gall bladder..How does that affect your digestion and break down of meals?

Bile contains (along with bile pigments and cholesterol) bile salts, which are required for fat digestion and absorption. Bile salts act as detergents to keep fat droplets in solution by forming a micelle structure (emulsification). The effect of this is an increase in the surface area and accessibility of the fat droplet to the enzyme that breaks down fat, lipase. The micelle then transports the products of lipid breakdown to the wall of the small intestine where they are absorbed. Bile salts are also required for keeping cholesterol in solution so that it can be excreted from the body (preventing the precipitation of excess cholesterol that results in gallstones).

The lack of a gall bladder may reduce the efficiency of digestion and absorption of fats but not significantly. About 98% of bile salts secreted are then reabsorbed in the ilium, so only about 0.5 grams need to be newly synthesised each day. The liver by itself is probably capable of coping with those demands without needing to store bile away in the gall bladder.

The doctor told me that the Gallbladder only produced extra stomach acid not all of it. So he said that I would get along without it just fine. I have!! Apparently your body produces it in more then one place, besides stomach... I want to say the pancreas,the liver... is where the doctor said it was also produced!

I think you might be referring to the bicarbonate (NaHCO³) that is produced by the ducts of the liver, gall bladder and pancreas under hormonal control, and acts to neutralise acid from the stomach. The acidity issues you mentioned may be due to a reduced production of alkaline bicarbonate which, in turn, is due to the removal of the gall bladder.

...but then I'm not a doctor. I think we need one...