Pancreatic obesity: causes and methods of treatment
Pancreas inexpressive onForm, yellowish color. This glandular organ is about 7 cm in length. The pancreas is located deep in the abdominal cavity, hidden behind the stomach and upper intestine. Playing a key role in digesting food.
When food passes through the intestine, the pancreas secrete enzymes that break down complex nutrients. Entered, thus, glucose, fatty acids and amino acids can move through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream, where they provide nutrition.
Pancreatitis causes serious damage to the body, resulting in the development of diabetes mellitus, pancreatic obesity and other concomitant diseases.
Fat infiltration
With pancreatitis, the pancreas loses some of its functions. Over time, the organ change only progresses. Healthy cells of the pancreas die and to maintain their volume and integrity, it replaces them with fat cells. But they are not able to perform the functions of normal organ cells.
The ongoing process of substituting normal pancreatic cells for fat cells is called lipomatosis. It is considered as a protective reaction of the gland to pathological changes, that is, fatty degeneration is a consequence of the arisen pancreatitis, and not its cause. Due to the fact that the pancreas has good compensatory capabilities, lipomatosis may not develop in the patient at all.
Not everyone suffering from pancreatitis has a risk of developing obesity in the liver. The process is more common in people who are overweight, who already have obesity from other organs. Hereditary predisposition and the patient's age are of great importance.
Lipomatosis progresses very slowly and has no obvious clinical signs. More often it does not manifest itself in any way, only if the excess fat mass does not begin to squeeze the ducts of the pancreas. This is a benign organ change that rarely requires surgical intervention.
Obesity stages and clinical picture
The percentage of body fat is divided into the following stages:
- The first degree - 30% of the total weight of the gland is replaced by fat cells.
- Second degree - 60% of adipose tissue.
- Third degree - more than 60% of the mass of the gland are pathological cells.
With ultrasound, you can observe the changes that have occurred in the organ. Lipomatosis, reveals itself as small foci, which in a chaotic order are located in the tissues of the gland. The doctor assesses the condition of the organ when examining, fixes the size of the pancreas and the amount of adipose tissue. When it is small, it does not squeeze the ducts of the organ and does not interfere with the performance by the gland of its functions.
A clear increase in some of the gland's sections indicates serious illnesses. In this case, the patient should begin treatment so that there are no complications.
The accumulation of fat cells near the gland ducts prevents its normal functioning. The degree of obesity of the organ does not matter. When squeezing the ducts, there is a violation of the normal process of digestion. The patient is then experiencing a heaviness in the abdomen, pain in the pancreas, nausea, vomiting. Undigested food contributes to the development of gas formation and causes bloating, often there is diarrhea, weakness in the whole body and poor health.
Treatment of lipomatosis
The disease is mainly combated with conservative methods. Due to the slow development of obesity, it is possible to influence the rate of its development.
Treatment begins with a diet, the basic rule of which is fractional and frequent meals. This prevents the deposition of fat in the pancreas tissue. If the diet is observed, lipotropic processes in the body are improved.
Food is treated with the use of such products: lean meats, potatoes, zucchini, pumpkin, cabbage, buckwheat, rice, kefir, cottage cheese.
When organ damage is severe, surgical treatment is recommended. It is usually required in stage 3 lipomatosis, when the patient has a complaint about his health and the normal digestion process is disrupted. Such treatment is used only in extreme cases, because the operation is complex.
Pancreatic obesity has a favorable prognosis, provided that adequate treatment is used and the patient complies with the diet.
Obesity of the liver and pancreas
Steatosis, a disease in which pathological accumulation of fats in organs occurs. More often it occurs in the liver and pancreas.
The process of obesity provokes smoking, alcohol, toxins and medications. The accumulation of fat in the pancreas often causes steatosis of the liver.
Clinically fatty hepatosis at the initial stages is not manifested. Detect it more often when examining other organs.
The liver cell accumulates fat and over time its excess leads to rupture of the hepatocyte membrane. At this place there is a fatty cyst. Liver tissues thicken around it and eventually degenerate into fibrous tissue. Unfortunately, it threatens with cirrhosis of the liver.
Treatment with steatosis is performed in a hospital. Apply a long course of drugs that break down fat. Assign B vitamins, drugs that restore liver cells and normalize metabolism.
Physiotherapy, reduced fat diet, medication and bed rest ensure successful treatment of fatty liver infiltration in the initial stages.
Pancreatitis is a complex disease that can cause diabetes, lipomatosis, steatosis of the liver and other diseases. A number of these ailments can not only be successfully treated, but also prevent their occurrence. No matter how beaten it sounds, but a healthy lifestyle, adherence to the diet and the intake of recommended products, can protect the body from the development of many diseases and improve the quality of life.
