Re: Would you like a liver flush with that colon cleanse?

 "Most gallstones do not contain any such thing. Gallstones and liver stones form when cholesterol and/or bile salts in the bile form tiny crystals, which then enlarge. Most gallstones are cholesteral gallstones, and liver stones are much less common."

Not a very science based explanation.

LOL!!!  What do you expect?  The article is written for laypersons, not medical personnel that are already aware of these facts!!!

If you think differently though why don't you post some evidence to the contrary rather than simply claiming the author is wrong because of how it was presented?  After all his explanation was clearly more scientific that the "liver flush" supporters "you are wrong even though we have evidence to the contrary" mantra.

"Not quite. In any case, if true obstruction were present and increasing the “back pressure” on the liver, it would be fairly straightforward to demonstrate by observing dilated biliary ducts in the liver on ultrasound."

I personally know two people who had gall bladder issues regarding stones, that were never seen by ultrasound, and one of the people was sick for years before a doctor finally told them they would remove the gall bladder...stones still not seen by ultrasound.

Hmm...  You supposedly know two people that had "issues" regarding stones.  Sounds pretty vague and clearly unscientific to me!  Pretty suspicious sounding as well since no real specifics are being given.  After all there could have been a number of things that can go wrong with the gallbladder.  Even inflammation from an infection or perforation.   So being so vague about the story really makes it sound like you are making up the story as you go along.

Furthermore, ultrasounds are easily able to image stones as small as 2mm, which are unlikely to cause any problems.  To cause problems the stones would have to be larger and most likely abundant, which means that they could be imaged even easier.  So the whole story smells like a fish market.

If you are going to make up stories at least add some of those wild claims such as passing golf ball or baseball sized "stones" or passing a quantity of stones that far exceeds the real size of the gallbladder.  At least those fiction stories offer some entertainment!