Causes Of Pancreatitis

There are a number of different causes of Pancreatitis that could lead to either an Acute Pancreatitis attack or to Chronic Pancreatitis.

What Does The Pancreas Actually Do?

The Pancreas is an important organ that has two basic functions.  First, it aids in digestion by secreting enzymes into the small intestines.  Secondly, it produces insulin that is released into the bloodstream to help the body handle the sugar from the foods that you eat.

When helping to digest food and working correctly the Pancreas sends inactivated pancreatic enzymes through its ducts and out into the small intestine.  There these enzymes will become activated and help digest the food you have eaten.

What Happens When Pancreatitis Occurs?

But if you suffer from either form of Pancreatitis the enzymes become activated while they are still inside your Pancreas.  When this happens the enzymes will irritate your cells inside the Pancreas which will cause inflammation and all the other symptoms of Pancreatitis.

It can be a bit confusing about how Pancreatitis will present itself.

You might be one of the lucky ones that has a single Acute Pancreatic attack and never have any other problems with it.

Or repeated attacks of acute Pancreatitis could damage the Pancreas which might lead to Chronic Pancreatitis.  Or you can suffer from Chronic Pancreatitis without ever having an acute attack.

How Pancreatitis develops is different in each individual case and will depend upon a number of issues ranging from what the causes of Pancreatitis were in your case to the damage that happens to your Pancreas during flare ups or even what steps you take to prevent further damage.

Sometimes changes in lifestyle and diet are enough to keep the Pancreas from flaring up again while in other cases more drastic steps like surgery are required.

Even one severe attack of Acute Pancreatitis can damage your Pancreas.  But the more attacks that you suffer, whether Acute or Chronic, the more scar tissue can form in the Pancreas which can lead to a loss of function.

A Pancreas that functions poorly can cause problems with your digestion or lead to diabetes.

Causes Of Pancreatitis

There are a number of different reasons that you could end up suffering from Pancreatitis.

• Alcoholism
• Gallstones that have become lodged, even temporarily in the Pancreas
• Abdominal surgery that damages the Pancreas
• Certain medications
• Cigarette smoking
• Cystic fibrosis
• Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), when used to treat gallstones
• Family history of pancreatitis
• High calcium levels in the blood (hypercalcemia)
• High triglyceride levels in the blood (hypertriglyceridemia)
• Infection
• Injury to the abdomen
• Pancreatic cancer

Most of the time if you go to the ER and are suffering from the pain of a Pancreatitis the first thing that the Doctors, and Nurses, are going to do is ask you if you drink alcohol.

It used to be that Doctors assumed that almost everyone who had Pancreatitis got it because they drank.  But even though recent studies have shown that the actual number of people who suffer because of this reason is far smaller than had been assumed – it is still one of the largest causes of Pancreatitis and you can expect to be asked again and again about your drinking habits.

A recent discovery that was made suggests that abnormalities in certain genes could make us more vulnerable to Pancreatitis no matter what the actual cause was that pushed us over the edge.

Idiopathic Or Unknown Causes Of Pancreatitis

There are also a huge number of idiopathic causes of Pancreatitis where the actual reason is unknown.  This is where no reason for the attack becomes apparent and the Doctor has to basically shrug his shoulders and admit that he just doesn’t know why your attack happened.

My Pancreatitis is considered idiopathic.  This can be as discouraging for you as it is for your Doctor.  I always think that if we could just figure out what caused the attacks then we could do something about stopping them.

Conclusion to Causes Of Pancreatitis

Once you have Pancreatitis it’s important that you take a look at your diet and lifestyle to try to make the attacks as few and far between as possible.

You have to start by finding a good Doctor that is understanding and willing to help you with this problem.  When you have an Acute Pancreatitis attack or duffer through the daily grind of Chronic Pancreatitis you are going to need help.

It’s possible that you are going to need pain meds to get you through the pain and you want a Doctor who understands that you aren’t drug seeking but actually need the meds.

Then they also have to take the time to examine any other meds that you take that might contribute to the flare ups.  You should make sure that you change these meds to something less problematic ASAP.

A good Doctor will also see if you have high triglycerides and get you on the proper meds if you need them.

Pancreatitis and Depression

Another important point is that dealing with Pancreatitis can cause severe depression.  A recent study showed that more than 50% of people who suffer from Pancreatitis also suffer at one point or another from severe depression.

Make sure that you get the help that you need if you are suffering from depression.  Remember that you don’t have to suffer in silence, there are people that can help you!

Final Thoughts

Whether or not you know what your causes of Pancreatitis are,  there are things that you can do once it happens.

Like I mentioned above – find a good Doctor and get your meds in order.  A lot of us that suffer from Pancreatitis also find that there are changes to our diets that have to happen.

For me it means no alcohol at all, not that I was ever anything but a social drinker.  And I have to watch how much cheese that I eat – especially any yellow cheese.  Red sauce for pizza or pasta is also another no-no.

And one of the hardest things to learn, for me at least, is that Pancreatitis really takes it out of you.  You just aren’t going to be able to do everything that you might think you should be able to do.  Especially when you have a flare up it’s going to take you a while to get back on your feet.  You have to take time to recover.

Pancreatitis, even if you aren’t having a flare up – takes it out of you and you might need to adjust your daily activities because you just won’t have the energy to get everything that you want done.  For me, I find that if I push too hard I can push myself right into a flare up.

So my final point is that you need to find your own balance and make sure that you get help when you need it.  Learn the causes of Pancreatitis and make sure that you avoid as many of them as possible.

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