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Just How Serious Is Having Pancreatic Disease? Going For Colonoscopy
Posted on
Mon, 18 Mar 2019
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Mon, 18 Mar 2019
Answered on
Last reviewed on
Question : Just how serious is having pancreatic disease? Going for colonoscopy and endoscopy next week.
Brief Answer:
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
There is a range of problems that can happen with the pancreas, and some are minor while others can be serious.
On the minor end, MRI scans of the abdomen are now very good at picking up the presence of IPMNs (intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms). As a result, we are finding many, usually benign, tumors of the pancreas that likely will not cause any problems.
On the other end is pancreatic cancer, which is often serious because it is generally found late due to not a lot of symptoms associated with it.
A more common problem is pancreatitis, and if mild, does not cause a lot of long term problems.
The things I described involve the exocrine (enzyme producing) part of the pancreas. But the pancreas also has cells that have an endocrine function and produce insulin, which is needed for dealing with sugar appropriately.
So, I can't say whether the problem you are having is serious or not. Has your doctor given you an indication for the reason for the endoscopy?
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
There is a range of problems that can happen with the pancreas, and some are minor while others can be serious.
On the minor end, MRI scans of the abdomen are now very good at picking up the presence of IPMNs (intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms). As a result, we are finding many, usually benign, tumors of the pancreas that likely will not cause any problems.
On the other end is pancreatic cancer, which is often serious because it is generally found late due to not a lot of symptoms associated with it.
A more common problem is pancreatitis, and if mild, does not cause a lot of long term problems.
The things I described involve the exocrine (enzyme producing) part of the pancreas. But the pancreas also has cells that have an endocrine function and produce insulin, which is needed for dealing with sugar appropriately.
So, I can't say whether the problem you are having is serious or not. Has your doctor given you an indication for the reason for the endoscopy?
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
Answered by
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