The pancreas, the symptoms of which we will discuss later in the article, plays an important role in the digestion process and is responsible for the production of enzymes. Any disturbances in its functioning can cause dangerous consequences, therefore, at the first signs of pathology, you should consult a doctor.
Reasons
Inflammation of the pancreas - pancreatitis - can be triggered by the following factors:
- Violation of the outflow of digestive juice.
- Alcoholism. It is no secret that excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages causes irreparable harm to the body, and the pancreas receives the most damage, since it does not have the enzymes necessary to break down alcohol. That is why most alcoholics are characterized by inflammation of the named organ.
- Too much fatty food in the diet. In this case, the pathology develops according to the following scheme: the pancreas tries to produce as many enzymes as possible to break down food, but even these efforts are insufficient. As a result, due to overload, the functions of the organ are disrupted.
- Unbalanced diet. If the content of ice cream, carbonated drinks and the like prevails in the patient's diet, then pancreatitis can be expected with certainty, since they are the worst enemies of the pancreas.
But pancreatitis also occurs in the younger generation. Its causes, as a rule, are the following factors:
- past trauma;
- surgical intervention resulting in damage to pancreatic tissue;
- allergic to some food.
Symptoms of inflammation of the pancreas
There is a fairly extensive list of symptoms indicating that the patient suffers from pancreatitis. The presence of such a disease should be judged if the patient has certain symptoms:
- Pain is a symptom of the pancreas. Inflammation is characterized by painful sensations localized in the area of the right or left hypochondrium, which are not eliminated with painkillers.
- Absolute lack of appetite.
- Nausea.
- Vomiting with bile and stomach contents. Also, the disease is evidenced by frequent vomiting, which does not bring even the slightest relief.
- Excessively high body temperature. In a patient with pancreatitis, it can reach thirty-nine degrees.
- Rapid pulse. It goes up to 90 beats per minute. Not necessarily, but the pressure may drop noticeably.
- In addition to the above-mentioned "signals", the patient is uncomfortable with frequent belching with an unpleasant odor, quite noticeably hitting the patient's nose.
- There is also a constant profuse sweat.
The way the pancreas hurts is a symptom that needs to be described in detail to the doctor, since the nature of the pain can tell about more serious illnesses.
Diagnosis
Under the diagnosis of inflammation of the pancreas is meant a set of procedures that allows you to identify the presence of the disease in a patient. As a rule, this is the prerogative of the gastroenterologist. There is a fairly extensive list of methods used by the doctor:
- General clinical blood test. This procedure is performed to check for the presence of inflammation. In a positive case, an excessive number of leukocytes or an increase in ESR will be detected in the blood.
- Biochemical blood test. Its purpose is to determine the level of presence of amylase, trypsin, lipase. All these are special enzymes produced by the stomach. If the level of enzymes is excessively high, then in this case a diagnosis of "pancreatic cancer" can be established, the symptoms of which are the same as those of inflammation.
- Urine analysis. In acute pancreatitis, the urine will contain impurities of one of the enzymes produced by the stomach, amylase.
- Gastroscopy. The following procedure is carried out in order to understand whether the duodenum and stomach are involved in the inflammatory process. It is logical that with a confirmed diagnosissuch a check will also not bring a happy result.
After diagnosing and determining the symptoms of the pancreas, treatment is carried out depending on the severity of the patient's condition.
Surgery
As a rule, doctors try to treat without surgery, but when the pathological process goes into severe stages, you should immediately agree to all manipulations. Surgical intervention for inflammation of the pancreas involves the complete or partial excision of the affected area. To do this, the patient must have the appropriate indications:
- Necrosis of pancreatic tissue cells.
- The stratification of the affected cells of the organ.
- Chronic pancreatitis that often gets worse.
It is worth noting that pancreatic surgery is a rather difficult process, as some problems may arise during it or during the rehabilitation period. A possible complication after surgery is bleeding during the rehabilitation period and exacerbation of any chronic diseases.
Rehab
Rehabilitation after surgery can be carried out both in a hospital and at home. During the recovery period, the patient must comply with several doctor's recommendations, for example, adherence to rest, a certain diet, sleep, etc. The therapist may prescribe a course of biological supplements and physiotherapy. Compliance with the appointments will allow the patient to successfully recover andreturn to a fulfilling life.
Medicated treatment
To prescribe a course of drug therapy, a specialist looks at the symptoms of the pancreas, the type of disease, the age of the patient and the presence of concomitant pathologies.
Therefore, if there is acute pain, nausea and vomiting, the patient should not take the drugs himself. They can only be prescribed by a doctor, after conducting appropriate examinations in a hospital setting. As a first aid, the patient is advised to take "No-shpu" or "Papaverine", which are antispasmodic drugs. And only after establishing the severity of the disease, the patient is prescribed antibiotics, painkillers and enzyme preparations. "Festal" or "Mezim" can be drunk during remission.
Complex to help
To cure chronic pancreatitis, the doctor uses complex treatment. The disease is considered sluggish, and diseased cells are gradually replaced by connective tissue. This can cause the pancreas to produce less and less of the enzymes that help digest food.
To treat the disease, you need to follow a sparing diet. The doctor can prescribe Maalox, which has adsorption and enveloping properties. "Mezim" has proven itself well, thanks to which food is better absorbed. These medicines are safe and can be taken for quite some time.
Folk remedies
Grandma's recipes are not recognized by all experts. But you can'tto say that they do not benefit the patient, because their effectiveness has been proven by many generations. At home, you can prepare tinctures, the recipes of which we offer you below:
- Wormwood (2 tablespoons) pour ½ liter of boiled water. It is left in a thermos for about an hour. This remedy contributes well to the treatment of the disease.
- Alfalfa (two teaspoons) pour 300 ml of boiling water. Let stand for thirty minutes and drink in small sips throughout the day. At home, the infusion is considered a good helper from the disease.
- Take a tablespoon of plantain and a glass of boiling water, insist tea. The drink helps a lot as an element of complex therapy.
- You can also treat inflammation of the organ with the help of dandelions. To do this, take dandelion root (50 grams) and boiling water (300 ml). Brew for two hours and drink three times a day, 100 milliliters before meals.
- During an exacerbation of the disease, you need to take propolis. A decoction of fifteen drops of a solution of propolis and chamomile is very useful.
- You can also try the following remedy: chop garlic (300 g), parsley (300 g), lemons (1 kg) with a meat grinder and place in a glass container in the cold. Consume a teaspoon fifteen minutes before meals.
Prevention
For the prevention of pancreatitis, you should follow the meal regimen clearly on time. In addition, it is necessary to exclude alcohol, energy drinks, beer, champagne, highly carbonated water.
After eating fatty food (pork, fattyfish, cakes, pastries, etc.) you should unload the pancreas - exercise or take one tablet with food to choose from: "Festal" or "Pancreatin".
Daily stress, like an unbalanced diet, can cause pancreatitis. Elimination of psycho-emotional stress and adherence to a rational diet significantly reduces the risk of inflammatory diseases of the pancreas. In order to prevent the development of pathology and to stop emotional upheavals, experts advise taking 1 tablet of valerian at night, but not more than a month.
To prevent inflammation of the pancreas, you should quit smoking, as cigarette smoke strongly irritates the cells of the secretory organ. The excretory function at the same time gradually begins to fade away.
