Saturday, April 20, 2013

Do You Know Me?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is an extremely melodramatic soliloquy by a specific organ in the body. Can you guess which?
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Do you know me?

I am an organ. Does that surprise you? I bet it does. I aid in your digestive processes, yet I belong outside the digestive system. I lie behind the peritoneal cavity across the abdomen at the level of the 1st and 2nd lumbar vertebrae. And like you, I have a head and a body, but unlike you, I have a tail.

Do you know me?

I am a major part of your body. Do you think I’m joking? Sorry to disappoint you but I’m not. You need me to regulate glucose. You need me to produce glucagon and gastrin. You need me to produce digestive enzymes. Why is that you ask? Well, without it, how can you digest your food? Do you know that you need to neutralize the acidity of your stomach? I am rich in sodium bicarbonate, which is why I can counterbalance the effects of hydrochloric acid.

Do you know me?

Do you know the normal appearance of my fluid? Well, it should be clear, colorless and watery. And of course, it should be alkaline. It is produced by my acinar cells. And I almost forgot! My digestive enzymes are capable to digest all the carbohydrates, proteins and fats you eat. Every. day. of. your. life. They are also able to digest other complicated stuff like proteolytic enzymes, lipid-digesting enzymes, carbohydrate-splitting pancreatic amylase and nucleases.

Do you know me?

The distant organ systems, Nervous and Digestive, help me in regulating my daily activities. However, my comrades, secretin and cholecystokinin do most of the job. Secretin produces the alkaline pancreatic fluid which protects the lining of the intestine, while cholecystokinin aids the acinar cells in producing enzymes into the pancreatic fluid.

Do you know me?

Do you know that if you don’t take care of me I’ll deteriorate? Why yes, I am like my sibling organs, which can die and stop functioning once abused. I can develop Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disorder occurring at the 7th chromosome, which prevents my fluids from going to the duodenum or blocks the lumen, leading to destruction. I can also acquire pancreatic carcinoma, a silent killer that goes undetected until it’s advanced. It can cause weight loss, jaundice, and dark urine, light stool color, enlarged lymph nodes on the neck, belly/back pain and weight loss. I can also become inflamed, due to my own digestive chemicals damaging me. Do you know how much that hurts? Being betrayed by a comrade is the worst thing that can happen to anyone, whether human or organ.

Do you know me?

Does reading those diseases made you all panicky? Worry not, for there are laboratory tests that can be done to diagnose those. The very basic methods are the physical examination and direct examination of my fluid. I guess I don’t need to explain them to you, right? Others are more specific and complicated, like the Secretin/Cholecystokinin test, which determines my capacity to secrete enzymes. You need to fast for 6 hours or overnight to do this test. A dose of 2-3 U/kg of secretin is administered intravenously, and then followed by CCK. Secretions are collected in 30, 60 and 80 minute intervals. The amount of bicarbonate present is then determined together with the pH, rate of secretion and enzyme activities. The normal values, according to Michael Bishop, are 15mmol/L and 12mmol/L for men and women, respectively.

Do you know me?

The next tests involves stool specimen: Qualitative test, which uses fat soluble stains to detect steatorrhea. Another is Sudan staining, which uses Sudan III as a stain. When assessing the slide, the number of fat droplets is counted. Quantitative test is also employed, which is the definitive test for steatorrhea and done on a 72- hour specimen. The last test involving stool specimen is the Gravimetric method, which uses a 3-day stool specimen. The sample is then submerged in water then an aliquot is acidified. This converts fatty acid soaps to free fatty acids. Some precautions to this test include avoiding consumption of castor oil, mineral oil, oily laxatives and use of rectal suppositories 2 days prior to and during testing.  Specimen containers must not have a wax coating. It is also Bishop that stated that its normal value is 1-7 g/24 hours.

Do you know me?

Another body fluid may be also used: sweat. Yes, that seemingly innocent excretion can be used to diagnose Cystic Fibrosis. The last test that I know is the use of enzymes amylase and lipase. An increase in amylase is usually diagnostic of acute pancreatitis. Lipase increases at the same time as amylase. It is usually increased in bone fractures.

Do you know me?

Do you know me now that I’m done talking about myself?

I hope that you’ll cooperate with me in keeping your body healthy.

I am your pancreas, remember that.

--fin

(Disclaimer: All information used in the making of this emotional entry is from the great works of Michael Bishop’s Clinical Chemistry: Techniques, Principles, Correlations, 6th ed., 2010, Gerard Tortora and Bryan Derrickson’s Principles of Anatomy and Physiology, 12th ed., 2009, Tomislav Dragovich, MD, PhD’s Pancreatic Cancer from emedicine.medscape.com/article/280605-overview#aw2aab6b2b6aa , accessed on April 13, 2013 and www.webmd.com/cancer/pancreatic-cancer/pancreatic-cancer-symptoms, accessed on April 13, 2013.)

4 comments:

  1. Why does the pancreas digest carbohydrates, protein fat, while the other organs only do a few or just one of those substances?

    Because it's PANsexual!

    Di ba yun pansexual gusto kahit ano gender identity, while the pancreas gusto kahit ano energy source. And they both start with pan!
    Hahahahaha!...hahah~... ha.

    Ah. Anyway. Well done article. It was informative and easy to understand. Way better than reading some textbook.

    OH AND I KNEW YOU BY THE FIRST LINE OF THIS BLOG
    (starting from the bottom and excluding refs).

    ReplyDelete
  2. ...I'm utterly speechless marrey... I don't know if I'll laugh or what..

    But THANK YOU for the comment. (no sarcasm here) I appreciate it.. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like how you introduced your topic to the reader. It's an ingenious method.

    Good read for other learners in your class and around the globe. K.I.U.!

    ReplyDelete
  4. ang creative ng blog mo bebe. superb! :D

    ReplyDelete