Questions for dci hall:
1. Do you know what Bilirubin and Biliverdin are? Please explain.
2. Did you know that when combined with other bile ingredients, color of bilirubin can be yellow or orange or red or brown or black ?
3. Did you know that when combined with other bile ingredients, color of biliverdin can be green or blue?
4. Did you know that cholesterol can be white in color?
5. Did you know that color of bilirubin combined with calcium from bile can be dark brown or even black in color?
6. Can you tell me how many different colors can you cteate by combining different proportions of white, yellow, red, green, blue, brown, black?
next pictures show gallstones, surgically removed.
How many different colors can you count?
(I assume you have the access to a color screen)
I will answer the last question. I cut all the stones images, I pasted them into a blank JPG file, and I let the software count colors. Result: over 1 million colors. Interesting what computer can do in a fraction of a second.
Spirit
Some info:
http://www.medicinenet.com/gallstones/page2.htm
Pigment gallstones
Pigment Gallstones are the second most common type of gallstone. Although pigment Gallstones comprise only 15% of Gallstones in individuals from Europe and the Americas, they are more common than cholesterol gallstones in Southeast Asia. There are two types of pigment gallstones 1) black pigment gallstones, and 2) brown pigment gallstones. Pigment is a waste product formed from hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying chemical in red blood cells. The hemoglobin from old red blood cells that are being destroyed is changed into a chemical called bilirubin and released into the blood. Bilirubin is removed from the blood by the liver. The liver modifies the bilirubin and secretes the modified bilirubin into bile.
Black pigment gallstones: If there is too much bilirubin in bile, the bilirubin combines with other constituents in bile, for example, calcium, to form pigment (so-called because it is dark brown in color). Pigment dissolves poorly in bile and, like cholesterol, it sticks together and forms particles that grow in size and eventually form gallstones. The pigment gallstone that forms in this manner is called a black pigment gallstone because it is black and hard.
Brown pigment gallstones: If there is reduced contraction of the gallbladder or obstruction to the flow of bile through the ducts, infection may ascend from the duodenum into the bile ducts and gallbladder. When there is obstruction and infection, the bacteria alter the bilirubin, which then combines with calcium to form pigment. The pigment combines with fats in bile to form particles that grow into gallstones. This type of gallstone is called a brown pigment gallstone because it is more brown than black. It also is softer than black pigment gallstones.
Other types of gallstones. Other types of gallstones are rare. Perhaps the most interesting type of gallstone is the gallstone that forms in patients taking the antibiotic, ceftriaxone (Rocephin). Ceftriaxone is eliminated from the body in bile in high concentrations. It combines with calcium in bile and becomes insoluble. Like cholesterol and pigment, the insoluble ceftriaxone and calcium forms particles that grow into gallstones. Fortunately, most of these gallstones disappear once the Antibiotic is discontinued; however, they still may cause problems until they disappear. Another rare type of gallstone is formed from calcium carbonate.