Pancreatitis, a disease usually triggered in heavy drinkers, can turn the pancreas into a brewery of chemical poison, says Dr. Patta Radhakrishna, during a talk with our writer, Shali Ittaman.

Pancreatitis, meaning an inflammation, is a stubborn condition seen in patients with compromised pancreas. “It is stubborn because it has the tendency to recur even after treatment,” says Dr. Patta Radhakrishna, the chief surgical gastroenterologist at SRM hospital, Chennai.

When that happens, the patients begin to lose their ability to digest food: they lose muscle mass, become emaciated, and have no more the energy to carry on in life. They may even fall to uncontrollable diabetes.

Pancreatitis: How it manifests

When pancreatitis hits people, they will hold their stomach and scream in pain. Pavani D, one of Dr.Patta’s patients describes it as “excruciating pain in the abdomen… extremely unsettling…”

The pancreatitis pain itself is a sign of trouble in the pancreas. In that state, the pancreas is dysfunctional; it is swollen, and is signalling for emergency medical help.

The pancreas, a soft, yellow, cheese-like organ, located behind the stomach, has work to do. It makes and supplies a hormone called insulin to control sugar levels in the body, besides a few other enzymes to help the body process food.  Dr. Patta explains:

He likens the function of pancreas to that of a “miniature machine connected to the intestine. The machine pours the insulin and the enzymes through a fine tube into the bowels to aid sugar control and digestion”. He says a “blocked tube prevents the chemicals from reaching the intestine, causing malnutrition and weakness in the patient”. 

Pancreatitis is mostly triggered when people overdose on alcohol. Alcohol corrodes the walls of the pancreas, choking it and clogging it, and pushing it to self-destruct. “It’s a dangerous situation that has caused many patients to be put on life-support. We call it ‘acute pancreatitis,’’ says Dr. Patta. He adds:

Alcohol and pancreatitis

The problem is that even in patients who outlive the first episode of pancreatitis, the pancreas remains compromised, putting it at the risk of being hit again and again by more acute episodes, called chronic pancreatitis. Dr. Patta explains:

Of course, it is not just the alcohol that triggers pancreatitis. It can also be caused by gall bladder stone blocking the pancreas. In some rare cases, it can also be triggered by genetical causes, as seen in many children. Pavani, for instance, a non-drinker, had it from a genetical cause that had made her an early age diabetic.

Treatment

There are medical procedures to treat pancreatitis. They entail the cleaning and de-clogging of pancreas and the fixing of ducts to enable the pancreatic juices to flow again. However, these are only short-term, hygiene measures — methods to relieve pain, lower distress, and retrieve some quality of life. The damage to the pancreas, much like the damage to the kidney and liver, can’t be reversed. 

Nevertheless, some work on transplanting of the damaged organ is certainly happening, but it is at a nascent stage and is rarely performed,says Dr. Patta:

(Shali Ittaman was an editor at Times of India, at Hindustan Times and at the Press Trust of India. Copy written for the Features Division of Guru Daksha Consultancy Services)

* Watch out for next blog, coming Feb 21: The irregular case of Kerala Pancreatitis