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The Human Pancreas

The pancreas is about the size of a small oblong loaf of bread. In humans, it is located in the back of the abdomen, behind the stomach and intestines, just above the belly button and against the spine. If affected by disease, the pancreas does not regenerate itself. If you lose more than 90% of your islet cells, you end up with diabetes. If you have chronic pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas, you will have trouble with digestion and have to take enzyme pills. The pancreas works hard to process the food we eat.

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Articles of Interest

Experience: I built my own pancreas

Having a computer make adjustments while I sleep is far safer than trying groggily to make decisions in the early hours.

A Cure for Type 1 Diabetes? For One Man, It Seems to Have Worked.

A new treatment using stem cells that produce insulin has surprised experts and given them hope for the 1.5 million Americans living with the disease.

A Pancreas in a Capsule

Stem-cell advocates pin their hopes on a method of treating diabetes.

Development of the human pancreas and its exocrine function

The pancreas has both endocrine and exocrine function and plays an important role in digestion and glucose control. Understanding the development of the pancreas, grossly and microscopically, and the genetic factors regulating it provides further insight into clinical problems that arise when these processes fail.

Human pancreas development

The pancreas is a composite organ derived from two buds, dorsal and ventral, that arise from either side of the distal foregut endoderm. It contains a distinctive combination of cell lineages. The exocrine tissue comprises acinar cells that secrete digestive fluid and a duct system by which the fluid drains into the intestine. The endocrine portion is arranged as discrete islets of Langerhans, which comprise multiple distinct cell types secreting (at least) five different hormones into the circulation.

Human pancreas on a chip opens new possibilities for studying disease

It may be feasible to also use the small two-chambered device, which features bioengineered human pancreatic organoids to study the causes of non-CF-related conditions such as type 1 and 2 diabetes, according to researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, who report findings in Nature Communications.

In the Pancreas, Common Fungi May Drive Cancer

A new study found that certain fungi can settle in the pancreas, where they spur the growth of tumors.

Living without a pancreas: Is it possible?

Given the importance of the pancreas as an organ, you might think living without one is impossible – like trying to live without a heart. But you can in fact live without a pancreas. Thanks to advancements in Medicine and the technology with which to administer it, we can now more effectively than ever reproduce what the pancreas does when it becomes necessary to remove all or part of the organ because of pancreatic cancer or other pancreatic diseases.

Modern Life Without a Pancreas

The technology that helps people manage diabetes has gotten so good that patients sometimes feel trapped without it.

Pancreas regeneration

The pancreas is central to the control of energy consumption and metabolism and is composed of two morphologically and functionally distinct components: the exocrine pancreas (acinar cells and ductal cells) and the endocrine pancreas (islets of Langerhans).Exocrine acinar cells produce an array of digestive enzymes, including lipases, proteinases, and amylases, which are secreted into pancreatic ducts and flow into the small intestine to break down fats, proteins, and carbohydrates for absorption.

Pancreas—Its Functions, Disorders, and Physiological Impact on the Mammals’ Organism

This review aimed to analyze the scientific literature on pancreatic diseases (especially exocrine pancreatic insufficiency). This review also describes the correlation between the physiological fitness of the pancreas and obesity.

Resources

Pancreatlas

Pancreatlas is a curated resource to share data from human pancreas samples. These datasets serve to document changes in the human pancreas from birth to adulthood, in health and disease

Pancreapedia

Expediting the understanding of pancreatic function and disease through information sharing and community building.

Pancreatic Cell News

The Online Resource for the Pancreatic Cell Research Community.

Anatomy and Histology of the Pancreas

The pancreas (meaning all flesh) lies in the upper abdomen behind the stomach. The pancreas is part of the gastrointestinal system that makes and secretes digestive enzymes into the intestine, and also an endocrine organ that makes and secretes hormones into the blood to control energy metabolism and storage throughout the body.

Animated Pancreas Patient

Easy-to-understand animations with audio narration, expert video explanations, patient interviews, slide shows, and many downloads on major pancreatic disease topics are available to you

PANC-DB

PANC-DB is the open-source data repository, dissemination and visualization vehicle for the cellular and molecular datasets generated by the Human Pancreas Analysis Program (HPAP), making genomic and islet function data highly accessible to the broader diabetes research community. PANC-DB has three components: data management and access, computational biology and data science, and communication and outreach.

Collaborative Alliance for Pancreatic Education and Research

CAPER - Collaborative Alliance for Pancreatic Education and Research, is a community of physicians and scientists with special interest in pancreas, formed with the objective of promoting research collaboration and education....

Death of a Pancreas

I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. I am just a Mom whose little girl has Type 1 Diabetes. On this blog you will find tips and advice, but it should NEVER be a substitute for your doctor's wisdom.

Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases International

Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases International publishes peer-reviewed original papers, reviews and editorials concerned with clinical practice and research in the fields of hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases. Papers cover the medical, surgical, radiological, pathological, biochemical, physiological and histological aspects...

Identify EPI

If you have exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI), your body cannot properly digest fats, proteins, and carbohydrates in the food you eat. In addition to preventing adequate digestion, EPI produces uncomfortable gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms.

Texting My Pancreas

I began writing here while using the Animas Ping insulin pump (I have since switched to using Tandem's t:slim pump), and this phrase was a cheeky way of referring to the times I gave myself a bolus from the insulin pump (which acted as my psuedo pancreas) via the pump's remote/meter.

The National Pancreas Foundation

There are a variety of disorders of the pancreas including acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, hereditary pancreatitis, and pancreatic cancer.

UCLA Agi Hirshberg Center for Pancreatic Diseases

There are a number of pancreatic diseases that can develop. These include pancreatic cancer, pancreatic endocrine tumors, pancreatic cysts, acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis and autoimmune pancreatitis. In addition to pancreatic disease the Center also specializes in diseases that develop in the bile ducts, gallbladder, and duodenum.

MedlinePlus

Problems with the pancreas can lead to many health problems. These include: •Pancreatitis, or inflammation of the pancreas: This happens when digestive enzymes start digesting the pancreas itself •Pancreatic cancer •Cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder in which thick, sticky mucus can also block tubes in your pancreas

Patient

About 90% of the pancreas is dedicated to making digestive enzymes. Cells called acinar cells within the pancreas produce these enzymes. The enzymes help to make proteins, fats and carbohydrates smaller. This helps the intestines to absorb these nutrients...