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The Pancreas Facts

The Pancreas Facts
The pancreas is probably an organ you've never really thought about. It is located in the upper part of your tummy (abdomen) behind your stomach, and is protected by your ribs in the back. The pancreas can be described as having a head, body and a tail. The head is located more toward your liver on the right, while the tail runs to your left, under your stomach, a nearly to your spleen. The pancreas has two general jobs which are very important = it releases digestive juices (enzymes) and that process is called an exocrine function. The other general job it does is putting different chemical messengers called hormones into your blood, which help with a wide variety of functions in your body. This job is called an endocrine process. Read on for more fun facts about the pancreas!
Interesting The Pancreas Facts:
The pancreas releases hormones into the blood which help control your blood sugars (glucose). These two important chemicals are called insulin and glucagon.
Insulin is released after you eat, or you have too much sugar (glucose) in your blood. It forces the sugar to go into your muscles and other cells to prevent the damage caused by too much sugar.
When your sugar (glucose) is low, the pancreas releases another hormone called glucagon. This makes the liver release sugars, which keeps your brain and other organs that depend on sugar (glucose) happy.
The pancreas also makes several chemicals called digestive enzymes. These are released into your intestines when you eat to help digest your food.
The main enzymes the pancreas releases are for digesting fats and proteins. These enzymes basically chop up proteins and fats to help the body absorb them through the intestines.
The pancreas also releases a fluid that contains bicarbonate - basically, baking soda. This helps to balance, or neutralize, the acids coming into the intestine from the stomach.
Cells in the pancreas (called beta cells) that release insulin can be damaged. This causes a condition called diabetes, and people who have diabetes have to be very careful about how much sugar they eat, and what medicines they take.
The name pancreas comes from the Greek language, and is spelled "pankreas." Pan means "all," and "kreas" means meat. So, pancreas really means "all meat." Many parts of the world eat the pancreas of various animals, and it is considered a very rich food.


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