Pancreatitis Research Paper

The pancreas is the organ of the upper part of the abdomen that is about 6 inches long

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The flattened head of the pancreas is surrounded by part of the small intestines called the duodenum and the body lies behind the stomach with the rest of the tail in front of the left kidney. The main functions of the pancreas is to secrete alkaline juice with enzymes, amylase and lipase, and secrete insulin and glucagon. Amylase and lipase helps diges t fats, protein, and carbohydrates from food that we eat. The alkaline j uices secreted helps neutralizes the acid secretions of the stomach, and the stomach secretes about 1.5 liters of the alkaline juices in a day.

The insulin and glucagon is essential for the regulation of the glucose

Other symptoms can include nausea and vomiting, tenderness of the upper abdomen, tachycardia, and fever. A person experiencing chronic pancreatitis will go through the similar symptoms of acute pancreatitis too.

There will be constant pain in upper abdomen, and people can be disabling due to severe pain, weight loss caused by poor absorption of food, oily, smelly stools and a loss of appetite.

A lot tissue damage causes th e lack of digestive juices to malabsor ption to cause oily and fatty stools.

Causes

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Gallstones and heavy alcohol use, medications, infections, trauma, metabolic disorder, cy stic fibrosis, high triglycerides can cause acute and chronic pancreatitis. Roughly, about 15% of the cause of acute pancreatitis is unknown, and 20% to 30% cause of chronic pancreatitis is unknown.

P

seudo

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cysts that block the ducts can cause chronic pancreatitis

Hereditary conditions can be a result of chronic pancreatitis.

Diagnoses

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Doctors can diagnose pancreatitis by measuring levels in blood of two digestive enzymes, amylase and lipase. High levels of these digestiv e enzymes suggests acute pancreatitis and during inflammation, it is raised three times above its normal

To measure the damage to the cells in the pancreas that make insulin, a glucose tolerance test is done.

Ultrasound, CT scan, and MRI are also done to reveal any swelling and damage to the gland. A white blo od cell (WBC) count can also show elevated cell count. For more severe cases of

PANCREATITIS

4 pancreatitis, doctors may order urine, blood, and stool tests to asses the deficiency of enzymes, and confir m diagnoses and extent of the damage. Sometimes biopsy are performed to get a sample to study.

Treatment

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To treat pancreatitis, people usually seek care in the hospital for five to seven days depending on the severity of the acute pancreatitis. Patients would be hooked up to

IV fluids, and pain medications to help ease the pain and to prevent de hydration. Surgery is an option, and is most likely to remove dead pancreatic tissue, to remove gallstones

, or if pseudo

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cyst formed during the inflammation, an incision to the pancreas is done to drain the cysts. With pseudo - cysts, it can cause breathing difficult y, so a ventilator therapy can help with severe lung