Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The Pancreas: Your Very Own Juicer

Your very own juicer
While primarily known for its role in making insulin, the pancreas also secretes juices that allow you to digest food. Alpha and beta cells, as well as a few others, form the fraternity that works together to help the pancreas perform its various digestive functions.

Factoid: About 1,500 milliliters (or six cups) of pancreatic juice is secreted every day. It contains water, ions and a variety of proteins. Yummy!

Alpha CellsAlpha cells release a substance called glucagon, which forces your body to make more glucose when you're exercising (and helps break down fat in this process). And you thought that huffing, sweating and getting hit on were the only things that happened during exercise.

Beta CellsThese are the cells that produce insulin, the hormone that helps the body store and use glucose. Think of insulin as the U.S. Postal Service and glucose as the mail; insulin is responsible for delivering that glucose (sugar) from the bloodstream into muscle, fat, liver and most other cells so that your body can use it for fuel. We wish insulin had a similar mantra as the USPS—neither blood, nor fat, nor DNA will keep insulin from delivering glucose throughout the body—but it doesn't quite work that way. Problems happen when either the pancreas doesn't make enough insulin or various parts of the body block insulin and prevent it from delivering glucose to those cells.

Other Cells
Three other types of cells round out the team. Delta cells are part of the feedback loop in the pancreas; remember that almost all biologic processes have a built-in "off switch" like this. These cells produce somatostatin, which, among other actions, turns off the alpha and beta cells. PP cells may sound like code for preschool bathrooms, but these cells contain pancreatic polypeptide and prevent pancreatic enzymes from being secreted into the gut after a protein meal, fasting and exercise. Finally, a few epsilon cells contain the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates our hunger and very often causes us to eat like a bear in a stream of salmon.
Prevent yourself from getting diabetes.
One little kink in any of the digestive organs can throw the entire system off track. It's no different for the pancreas.

With some minor malfunctions in the digestive process involving the pancreas, you can experience problems digesting fat, which can lead to the ultrapopular side effect of fatty stools. (You know your stools have a lot of fat in them when they float; remember that fat always floats.) You may also experience some pain when ducts get blocked by stones or thick mucus.

There are, however, some more severe concerns

PancreatitisInflammation of the pancreas is usually caused by toxins, like alcohol, a virus or a blocked duct, draining from the pancreas. The good news is that the problem is averted by avoiding the toxin that may have irritated this sensitive organ or the gallstones that block the duct—overusing caffeine and alcohol are possible culprits. The toughest part about this condition is severe pain. Pancreatitis is caused by a malfunction of the digestive process in which the digestive juices spill back into the pancreas and then into the abdominal cavity and dissolve tissue. That tissue is located right above a big set of nerve cells called the celiac plexus, so it's a wowie zowie kind of back throbbing—some of the worst pain people can experience.

DiabetesEssentially, people with diabetes have high blood sugar because they either don't make enough insulin (type 1) or because the inside of the cells that make up our muscle, fat, liver and organs act as if they have shut the door on insulin and prevent glucose from being delivered inside (type 2). Obesity is the major risk factor in decreasing insulin's effectiveness, and the rise of obesity is the major reason we've recently seen diabetes levels skyrocket. There are many problems associated with diabetes, including frequent urination, fatigue, impotence, nerve dysfunction, accelerated arterial aging and even the development of vision problems that can cause blindness

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