Judy Seeger, ND - traditional naturopath with 33 years of experience in the alternative medicine field shares what are gallstones and what you can do to eliminate them. br br What Are Gallstones? br Collections of crystals in the gallbladder or bile ducts (biliary tract). when gallstones are in the gallbladder, the condition is called cholelithiasis when gallstones are in the bile ducts the condition is called choledocholithiasis br -gallstones most common in women and in certain groups of people like Native Americans br br Risk factors for gallstone formation include: old age, obesity, western diet and genetic predisposition. In the U.S. 20 of the people over 65 have gallstones br Each year more than 500K people have their gall bladder surgically removed br br The major component of gallstones is cholesterol though some are made up of calcium salts. Bile contains large amounts of cholesterol that usually remains liquid.