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Sidney Klawansky, MD; Thomas C. Chalmers, MD
Harvard School of Public Health Boston, Mass

JAMA. 1992;268(7):873.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—Causal mechanisms have not been fully clarified to date in several studies that highlight the occurrence of gallstones in obese individuals during weight loss on very low-calorie diets (VLCDs) (Table).^1-3 The incidence of new gallstone formation, as detected by ultrasound, ranged from 10% to 26% over 8-week to 16-week periods. Of note is the fact that the diet in each of these studies contained only 1 g of fat. In line with other authors, Liddle et al² called attention to the possibility of gallbladder stasis as a possible causal factor.

The possibility of gallbladder stasis as a primary factor in gallstone formation during weight loss on VLCDs is consistent with the results of a recent study by Festi et al.⁴ In that study, researchers provided a 500-calorie (2100-J) diet for 13 weeks to 34 obese individuals (mean body mass index, 40.3 kg/m²), followed . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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