Pancreatic exocrine function

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[UPDATED FEBRUARY 2023]

Introduction

The pancreas is a large gland which lies behind the stomach and upper gut.

It has two major functions of clinical importance

  • Firstly it acts as an endocrine organ to produce insulin and other hormones essential for the control of blood sugar.
  • Secondly it has an exocrine function to produce enzymes essential for the digestion of food. These enzymes include those to digest proteins, fats and starches and to work best they need an alkali environment. This alkali environment is provided by the liver, which produces bile containing bile salts and bicarbonate. When food is present in the duodenum and jejunum, the gall bladder contracts sending a bolus of bile salts and bicarbonate which meet up downstream with pancreatic enzymes to allow digestion to take place in the duodenum and jejunum.

Symptoms of poor pancreatic exocrine function

If the pancreas does not produce digestive enzymes then foods will not be digested. This can lead to problems downstream.

  • Firstly, foods may be fermented instead of being digested and this can produce the symptom of bloating due to wind, together with metabolites such as various alcohols, hydrogen sulphide and other toxic compounds.
  • Secondly, foods are not fully broken down so that they cannot be absorbed and this can result in malabsorption. Where there is severe pancreatic dysfunction it is obvious because the stools themselves become greasy and fatty, foul smelling, bulky and difficult to flush away. Where there is malabsorption of fat, there will be malabsorption of essential fatty acids such as the Omega 3 and 6 and there will be malabsorption of fat soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E and K.

If foods are poorly digested, this results in large antigenically interesting molecules appearing downstream, which alerts the immune system and could switch on allergies, i.e. poor digestion of food is a risk factor for allergy.

Diagnosis of poor pancreatic function

A Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis looks at the different fats appearing in the stool and if these are raised, this points to poor pancreatic function. A faecal elastase is also a useful test. See GI Effects Comprehensive Profile - stool

See also Elastase - a new test for pancreatic disease

Tests of damage to the pancreas

If there is acute inflammation in the pancreas, amylase levels may be raised - see Amylase.

In acute pancreatitis there is severe dull central abdominal pain, which typically is relieved when the sufferer leans forward - that is because the weight of the stomach is pulled off the pancreas. Conventional medicine tells us a third of pancreatitis cases are due to gallstones, a third due to alcohol consumption and a third unknown. Actually this unknown category is almost certainly due to poor antioxidant status, particularly low levels of glutathione peroxidase (see Antioxidants). This problem probably co-exists in all cases of pancreatitis and indeed is likely to be the mechanism by whihc alcoholism causes pancreatitis!

Treatment

  • Correction of the above factors, in particular poor antioxidant status.
  • Pancreatic enzymes - these are available on NHS prescription - - creon 10,000 - see Medicines Org Entry for Creon 10,000. Whilst in theory this product should be perfect, it contains phthalates and methacrylate and these toxins make it unsafe to use long term.

One can buy pancreatic enzymes on the open market such as Polyzyme Forte, Spectrazyme, and so on. I would recommend taking 1 to 3 with meals, depending on the size of the meal. I sell Polyzyme Forte - see Sales at Dr Myhill Link for Polyzyme Forte.

I would also add in bile salts to emulsify fats (say 333mgs to 1,000mgs) and magnesium carbonate to provide an alkaline environment (500mgs to 2 grams depending on meal size), to be taken 60-90 mins after eating.

See

Food Allergy Link

Patients with food allergy often have either Hypochlorhydria, or poor pancreatic function, or both. What is interesting is that through correcting the hypochlorhydria with betaine hydrochloride and the poor pancreatic function with pancreatic enzymes, many symptoms due to food allergy are resolved. Supplementation is usually not for life - once the above factors are corrected the pancreas can recover and normal function is restored. See The influence of gastric digestion on the development of food allergy

See also Sales at Dr Myhill Link for Betaine Hydrochloride

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