What is Pancreatitis?
Think about eating your favorite sugary treat, like a scoop of ice cream or a doughnut. How does your body digest this and other foods filled with sugars, fats, and starches? While the stomach is the first organ that comes to mind when thinking about digestion, the pancreas is often overlooked, although it is one of the most important organs that aids in digestion. So what happens when this fundamental organ stops functioning correctly?
The pancreas produces essential enzymes that help digest food, in addition to hormones that control sugar levels in the bloodstream. This is extremely important because it allows your body to stimulate the gastric acids necessary to digest foods and break down sugars to give you energy. Sometimes pancreatic enzymes attack the pancreas tissues and inflame them, resulting in a condition called pancreatitis. Pancreatitis can either be acute with a sudden pancreatic attack, or it can be chronic, which is categorized by various symptoms. It’s important to monitor these symptoms as any changes in the pancreas can advance greatly before you begin feeling unwell.
Statistics
In the United States, mortality from acute pancreatitis is over 2,500 deaths per year.
In 2019 there were a total of 2,814,972.3 (incident cases of acute pancreatitis).
- Women: 1,273,955
- Men: 1,541,017
These images are from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3662544/
Symptoms of chronic pancreatitis
- pain in your upper abdomen
- diarrhea
- fatty stools, which are loose, pale, and don’t flush away easily
- nausea and vomiting
- shortness of breath
- unexplained weight loss
- excessive thirst and fatigue
Symptoms can become more severe as the condition progresses, resulting in:
- pancreatic fluids in your abdomen
- jaundice, which is characterized by a yellowish discoloration in your eyes and skin
- internal bleeding
- intestinal blockage
YouTubePancreatitis : Explained (source for image above)
After a complete medical history and physical examination, chronic pancreatitis can be diagnosed several ways.
Tests and procedures to help diagnose pancreatitis:
- Various blood tests: Determines the amount of pancreatic enzymes in blood, but not enough on its own to diagnose the condition.
- Ultrasound (also called sonography): A diagnostic imaging technique that creates images of internal organs and assesses blood flow with high-frequency sound waves
- Computed tomography scan (CT or CAT scan): A combination of X-rays and computer technology to produce detailed images of any part of the body, including the bones, muscles, fat, and organs. They are more detailed than general X-rays.
- Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MCRP): A test that produces images of body parts such as the pancreas, gallbladder, and pancreatic and bile ducts by injecting dye into a patient’s veins.
- Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP): A procedure that combines X-ray and the use of an endoscope (a long, flexible, lighted tube) guided through the patient’s mouth and throat to detect any abnormalities inside organs. A dye is injected to make them appear on an X-ray to diagnose and treat problems in the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts, and pancreas.
Chronic pancreatitis can lead to permanent scarring and damage. It is important to properly manage and treat pancreatitis to prevent further health issues from arising.
You can manage/treat pancreatitis by:
- Using medications for pain relief: these are administered based on pain tolerance and tolerance of medications
- Surgery: there are various procedures that can help alleviate pain and prevent
further health issues from developing later in life, such as diabetes. A doctor will help guide patients through deciding which surgery is necessary for the stage their condition is in.
- Using artificial digestive enzymes: these can be used if enzyme levels are too low to normally digest food.
- Dietary changes: limiting intake of fatty or sugary foods can alleviate pain since the pancreas isn’t working so hard to digest these substances. Eating several small meals that are rich in protein and antioxidants may help manage pancreatic pain.
Risk Factors
Alcohol Abuse – overuse of alcohol can cause inflammation of the pancreas. This causes enzymes within the pancreas to start digesting itself. The chances of being diagnosed with pancreatitis is 4-fold more likely if alcohol use is constant. Alcohol abuse effects makes up 17%-25% of the world’s pancreatitis cases
Presence of gallstones – the number one reason for pancreatitis. Gallstones are hard masses of bile that have fallen out of the gallbladder. These stones typically block the bile ducts which prevents the pancreatic enzymes from traveling to the small intestine, resulting in excess pancreatic enzymes in the pancreas. This causes extreme inflammation and could potentially be life threatening.
High content of triglycerides – large amounts of triglycerides can cause tissue damage to pancreatic acinar cells which then causes inflammation in the pancreas.
Resource Links
https://pancreasfoundation.org/patient-information/chronic-pancreatitis/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pancreatitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20360227
https://www.healthline.com/health/chronic-pancreatitis#causes
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/pancreatitis
https://www.choc.org/programs-services/gastroenterology/pancreatitis/#causes
https://www.healthline.com/health/pancreatitis-diet#recovery-diet
https://bmcgastroenterol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12876-021-01906-2