Pancreas and Diabetes

Pancreas and Diabetes
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Pancreas and Diabetes
The human body comprises of number of organs that function differently. The pancreas is an organ in a body of human that is compacted and situated deep in the stomach. Moreover, it is considered to be one of the most important parts because it aids in the digestion and regulation of the blood sugar in the body. The pancreas performs dual function of producing enzymes and hormones into the blood. Moreover, the different hormones produced by the pancreas help to control and balance the level of sugar and salt in the body. There, are also many types of hormones produced by the pancreas. Additionally, the pancreas plays other important roles that aids in the survival of a person.
On the other hand, diabetes is a disease that is associated with disorders caused by the pancreas. Diabetes is also referred to as Diabetes mellitus. It is a group of metabolic diseases which arises when the blood sugar in the human body go high. However, it is easier to establish whether one is suffering from diabetes by examining urine or even hunger. Furthermore, there are a number of different types of diabetes that affect the human body. This argument is broadly on the functioning of the pancreas organ in the human body and how it can lead to diseases like diabetes.
The Structure, Functioning and Medical Significance of the Pancreas
The pancreas is 15 cm and lies at the upper side of the left abdomen. However, this organ is divided into a number of parts. The head is near the duodenum, the tail, and the body which is at the back of the stomach. In essence the pancreas contains both the external and the internal hormonal role that it plays in the body. This can also be referred to as the exocrine and endocrine roles. Moreover, the pancreas contains two ducts, that is, the accessory and the main pancreatic duct (Leslie, 1993). Among other features of the pancreas is that it is sharp on the left side of the tail but flat and blunt on the upper right side. In terms of the surface, the pancreas is broader on the left side but narrow on the right side. However, almost half of the surface of the pancreas is attached to the transverse colon whereas the anterior part is faced by the abdomen. Some of the arteries and veins also pass near the pancreas which helps in the constant flow of blood in the body. In this regard, the pancreas takes blood other parts of in the body which include the mesenteric and the celiac arteries. Therefore, blood flows from the head, body up to the tail via the pancreatic arteries.
The growth and maturity of the pancreas begins from a dorsal to a ventral bud. In this process, the ventral bud turns over to the side of the gut arrow and fuses with the dorsal. Any other ventral buds are usually repulsed in order to enable the development process to take place in an easy way. As the development process continues, the tunicate process is developed by the ventral pancreatic bud whereas the head, body and tail are formed by the dorsal pancreatic bud. This fusion and rotation of the dorsal and the ventral buds leads to the configuration of the ultimate pancreas.
Functioning
The pancreas contains a dual function, having characteristics in both the endocrine and exocrine. In this case the endocrine contains more than a million islets that contain four cells in it which cannot be distinguished easily. Many of the endocrine cells make up the islets that are arranged and crossed according to their clusters by the capillaries. However, the islets usually play an important role in controlling the concentration of glucose in blood and glucose metabolism (Leslie, 1993). On the other function of the pancreas, the exocrine aids in the digestion of food that is consumed by human beings by breaking down the lipids, carbohydrates and proteins. Furthermore, the pancreas also produces enzymes that are used in digestion of the polysaccharides.
Medical Significance
Any disorder of the pancreas may need expertise medical attention as fast as possible before the problem becomes bigger. A problem with the pancreas might lead to digestion problems and continuous abdominal pain in the body. However, at times it is possible for a person to exist without a pancreas provided the individual takes insulin that will aid in the regulation of glucose concentration in blood and enzyme supplements that will aid in the digestion of food. The use of alcoholic drinks also leads to inflammation of the pancreas. Other causes involve, measles, sting from scorpions, wrong medications among other causes. In many cases, the enzymes from the exocrine may damage the tissues and structure of the pancreas. Pancreatitis is very dangerous such that it can even subject a person to shock. Therefore, patients that may be with this disorder require attention from the doctor and regular checkups and medication in order to avoid shock (Leslie, 1993). Shock can be experience at any given time. In most cases, patients who get affected become paralyzed and the condition remains that way until they die. Also, some of the patients may also die from the shock.
The pancreas disorders might also lead to the development of cancer in the human body which in many cases becomes difficult to treat. For instance, the most common adenocarcinoma cannot be treated unless it is diagnosed at an early stage in order to allow for surgery which is considered to be the only option to cure such a problem. However, pancreatic cancer is rampant in the old age particularly at 70s and cannot affect the young who are below 40 years of age. Some of the cause that leads to pancreatic cancer includes smoking of cigarettes, obesity that arises as a result of taking too much food, diabetes and genetic conditions. These are some of the risk factors that can make someone to be diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas. Therefore, it is important to avoid indulging in such risks that might lead to this kind of cancer. This is because it might be impossible at times to correct the problem more especially if it has been detected in a late stage. Moreover, the cost of better medication is also too expensive hence it might be an uphill task for some to afford the kind of medication that is required for a patient. The disorders in the pancreas are responsible for diseases like diabetes in the human body that arises as a result of high levels of sugar in the body (Leslie, 1993).
Diabetes
Medical practitioners usually refer to it as diabetes mellitus. Diabetes is just in general but in broad analyses it represents a group of metabolic diseases whose causes are due to low production of insulin in the human body or lack of a better response from the body cells to insulin. Among the symptoms associated with diabetes are, hunger, regular urination and increased thirst. However, there are three main types of diabetes that are common among individuals. Below are some of the types and how dangerous they are to the human body (Maso, 1998).
The Type 1 Diabetes
This kind of disease is usually developed at the early adulthood of a person or even during the teenage years. It is also referred to as the juvenile diabetes, early-onset diabetes or insulin dependent diabetes. Patients under this condition will need to take insulin injections for the rest of their life since their bodies are not capable of producing it. Moreover, regular blood test must be conducted in order to control the glucose levels in the body. Since this situation is considered not to be curable, patients will have to be subjected to measures like ensuring that they are taking a good diet that has been recommended by the medical professionals. However, this kind of diabetes is not common as the type 2 (Maso, 1998). Furthermore, according to the recent statistics carried out on diabetes, only 10% of individuals suffering from diabetes have the type 1. This is an indication that the type 1 is not common and affects the younger ones.
The Type 2 Diabetes
Majority of individuals that suffer from diabetes fall under this category. It is also associated with lack of enough insulin in the body or maybe the human cells failing to react to react to insulin. Although it might be difficult to correct this situation especially if it is detected at a later stage, patients that suffer from type 2 resort to exercises and observing the best diet and having a close monitoring on their blood sugar. Besides, type two is considered to increase gradually in an individual and at the end of period the patient will have to take insulin but in tablet form and not injections. It is best to consider what you it because the type 2 diabetes affects mostly the overweight more as compared with normal individuals. This is because those with overweight’s tend to produce some chemicals in the body that tamper with the metabolic systems which lead to the development of diabetes.
This is evident because overweight people tend to be lazy and less active when compared to those with normal weights. Eating the wrong diet is also considered as a reason to this disease. Moreover, according to a study carried by Imperial College London indicated that drinking of a can of soda per day can lead to diabetes as well. However, according to experts in the health sector, the type 2 diabetes will affects the elderly in the society and therefore it is a disorder that is rampant among the old people. This is because the aged are not mainly concerned with physical activities and therefore they tend to become less active compared to when they were young (Maso, 1998). In addition, researchers have also established that the disease can also be genetic and acquired by an individual whose relative was suffering from the same. However, the type 1 and type 2 may seem to be similar but they do exhibit the following differences.
Differences between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes
In terms of causes to the disease, type 1 is as a result of the cells being attacked by the body immune system that reduces the level of insulin in the body. When insulin is low in the body or even none is produced, the blood glucose will go high hence the development of the type 1 diabetes. On the other hand, the type 2 is as a result of high consumption of sugar into the body that in return requires a lot of insulin which might lack. Therefore, as a result of low sensitivity from the cells, glucose will be high in the blood and therefore will lead to type 2 kind of diabetes.
In consideration of the genetic issues, the type 1 has no strong link to the genetics and therefore one can only be affected by type 1 if both of his or her parents were suffering from the same. This is usually rare and difficult find such cases where both parents suffer from the same kind of diabetes. Whereas, the type 2 diabetes has a strong relationship with the family history and therefore if there is a family membe...