About Pancreatitis

Our Health Writer, Colleen Shannon, hears from an expert on this serious condition.

MOST people don’t know much about the pancreas, but this crucial organ helps us digest food and regulate our blood sugar.

Located in your upper abdomen, it produces digestive enzymes that release the nutrients from the food you eat. It also makes insulin and glucagon, two hormones that keep our blood sugar in balance.

Most of the time, the pancreas goes unnoticed. But when it is damaged, a serious condition called pancreatitis can occur.

So it’s important to know about the symptoms, and what to do if they happen.

To learn more, I talked to

Mr Richard Charnley, Consultant Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgeon at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

He explained there are two types of pancreatitis: acute and chronic.

The main symptom of acute pancreatitis is pain in your middle or upper abdomen, which may be severe. It’s an emergency that means you need to get straight to A&E.

Once in hospital, the procedure is to confirm the diagnosis with tests and provide pain relief, fluids and supportive care. When it’s severe, life may be at risk and recovery can take a long time.

Some people have a less severe attack, but they still need expert care, including good follow-up.

An acute attack may sometimes lead to, or follow on from, the chronic (long-lasting) type of pancreatitis.

The main symptom of chronic pancreatitis is abdominal pain. People may assume they just have indigestion. If they see the GP, it’s likely the doctor will look for gallstones or stomach cancer.

Once these are ruled out, the search for a diagnosis may stop, but that should not happen.

Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) say that pancreatitis should always be considered as a possibility when there is lasting abdominal pain, and people should be referred to a specialist to check for this condition.

Alcohol can damage the pancreas, and excessive drinking is a common cause of pancreatitis. So people with this condition must stop drinking – there is lots of support available, so you don’t have to do it alone. The same goes for smoking.

Pancreatitis can also happen to people who drink only moderately or not at all. Gallstones are a common cause in acute pancreatitis, and for a few people it is genetic (inherited). Sometimes the cause is never known.

Long-term, an expert team can help to manage the pain and symptoms. If digestion is a problem, you can get support from a dietician and take prescribed enzyme tablets with meals.

It’s also important to have regular checks for bone strength, which can be affected.

People with pancreatitis are at risk of developing Type 3 diabetes, so they need to have regular blood tests and, sometimes, specialist diabetes care.

It sounds scary, but it helps to remember there are many other causes of abdominal pain. You can look online at www.nice.org.uk/ guidance/ng104/informationforpublic to learn more about specialist care and how it can help, too. ■