Pancraititis - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... Pancreatitis is the result of an inappropriate release of trypsin, which results in a wide variety of digestion enzymes activating, including autodigestion of the pancreas which causes inflammation, as well as bleeding and can damage the pancreas extensively. Anti-inflammatory agents are released by the body to try and mediate the inflammation of the pancreas. When this happens, other organs can become dysfunctional. In the worst cases, kidney (renal) failure may occur, the patient may go into shock, or acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS, can occur.
The discovery of the mechanisms that cause exocrine parenchyma to lessen has not yet been discovered yet. How pancreatic acinar and ductal cells occur has not yet been discovered though a lot of effort has been put in to establish the facts. A lot of ideas have been presented by different pathologists on pancreatitis but none of them has seriously been absorbed ((Shrikhande et.al., n.d). Though there is one concept that has been adopted by these doctors. They claim that if alcohol is consumed in large quantities, it leads to a reduced production of lithostatin responsible for the stability of pancreatic juice. This then restricts the formation of protein plugs. It is this restriction of the formation of protein plugs that causes this disease.
According to Cheema and Aldeen (2010), there are two levels of pancreatitis: mild, and severe. Mild pancreatitis is defined as a localized reaction. According to Cheema and Aldeen, “Mild pancreatitis occurs in about 80% of patients, is self-limited, and resolves without complication” (p 1). The remaining 20% of the patients with pancreatitis will develop severe pancreatitis. What this means is that the occurrence of the disease resolves without complication or major medical intervention. On the other hand, severe pancreatitis is diagnosed by the presence of complicating factors. In severe ...Download file to see next pagesRead More