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Updated: 03/11/08 01:22 PM
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- The pancreas has three main functions: to secrete sodium bicarbonate to neutralize gastric acid; to secrete digestive enzymes; and to secrete endocrine hormones to regulate intermediary metabolism.
- In pancreatitis, it is believed that digestive enzymes become activated within acinar cells. Autodigestion, inflammatory mediators, ischemia, and secondary infection account for pathological and clinical consequences.
- More than 75% of pancreatic tissue must be destroyed before features of pancreatic insufficiency become obvious.
- Pancreatic cancer is now the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.
- Patients with cystic fibrosis have defective secretory chloride channels.
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