#Chronicpancreatitis #​pancreas #kimshospitals
Lets talk about a condition, which is very difficult to diagnose, and difficult to treat, it is not very uncommon in this area of the world, it is called chronic pancreatitis .
First let us understand what is pancreas & pancreatitis,
Pancreas is an organ which is very vital to the digestive system, not only for digestion, it is an important endocrine organ secreting important hormones for the health of the body, and this organ is located in the upper part of the abdomen, any disease to the pancreas, not only affects the digestion, it also can affect all systems, starting from the head to the toe, when this organ gets inflamed, i.e. it gets swollen or infected, this condition is called pancreatitis,
There are two types of pancreatitis , one is acute, other is chronic, Acute means there is a sudden severe swelling of the gland, it is usually severe or life threatening it is called acute pancreatitis, on the other hand there is another problem where in, the pancreas slowly dies, it initially gets an infection and slowly shrinks and gets diseased and its function starts deteriorating over a period of years, this is called chronic pancreatitis,
What are the symptoms of chronic pancreatitis?
1)Long standing abdominal pain: these patients usually come with complaints of upper abdominal pain, which is been there for many months to years, there are many patients where the pain is so severe that they are unable to take up any regular job.
2)Indigestion: These patients, because the pancreas is affected, the juices which the pancreas secretes to digest proteins and carbohydrates and fat is deficient, so they cannot digest, whatever nutrients they take from the food, so they can have indigestion of carbohydrate, indigestion of proteins , indigestion of fats, diarrhoea, because these nutrients don’t get digested, these get excreted out without complete digestion and be present with diarrhoea, you would have guessed severe pain, and chronic indigestion invariably leads to weight loss,
3)Diabetes: Pancreas is an important organ that secretes insulin, when the pancreas becomes diseased or damaged, insulin production also comes down, thereby many of these patients end up with diabetes
4) Pancreatic cancer : One of the most dangerous problems which a patient with chronic pancreatitis can develop is pancreatic cancer, one of the late stages of pancreatic disease can also develop cancer in pancreas which can be life threatening .
Why does chronic pancreatitis happen?
1)One of the most important risk factor for developing chronic pancreatitis is alcohol, those who take regular heavy abuse of alcohol are at very high risk of developing chronic pancreatitis, alcohol is a poison to the pancreas.
2)Second group of people who are at risk of developing pancreatitis is called idiopathic pancreatitis where the reason is unknown
3) Defective genes: There is also a group of patients where there is a genetic problem, where the gene is defective and this gene is very important for the pancreas. When this gene is defective the pancreas gets damaged.
4) Toxins : Another group of people are, certain toxins or chemicals can also induce pancreatitis.
Among all these reasons the most preventable reason for chronic pancreatitis is alcohol intake, so by avoiding alcohol abuse we can decrease the risk of chronic pancreatitis.
How is it diagnosed?
Usually many cases of pancreatitis are diagnosed very late. Because patients come with abdominal pain, they are usually diagnosed as gastric pain or ulcer pain, or acidity, They are being treated with over the counter drugs, or they are being misdiagnosed . when the disease becomes very severe, or the disease turns into a cancer, that is the time when many of the patients with chronic pancreatitis are diagnosed. Thanks to many advances in the diagnostic modalities we are able to pick up many of the early pancreatitis in the early stage, because the advances in MRI or CT scan or endoscopic ultrasound methods, many of these problems are detected very early in the disease.
IS the chronic pancreatitis completely curable?
The answer is no. You cannot cure or reverse whatever damage has happened to the pancreas.
If the patient with chronic pancreatitis is seen 15 or 20 years after the onset of disease, you cannot do much to put the pancreas into original shape. But we can prevent progression of disease, if you identify a cause, like alcohol or if there is a defect in the pancreatic duct,it has become narrow, these can be corrected at the initial stage, whereby the pancreas is preserved and prevented from going into chronic severe damage.
by
Dr. G. Parthasarathy
Sr. Consultant, Surgical Gastroenterology, Laparoscopic &
Hepato-Pancreaticobiliary Surgery
KIMS Hospitals Secunderabad