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Symptoms of a diseased pancreas are not clear-cut, so it is very easy to confuse them with symptoms of other diseases of the digestive system. Meanwhile, disregarded, they can lead to serious he alth problems: chronic pancreatitis and even pancreatic cancer. What are the signs that the pancreas is ailing?

How does the pancreas hurt?

Manysymptoms of a diseased pancreascan be confusingly similar to other diseases - food poisoning, digestive problems, and even allergies. Therefore, we often underestimate them when we try to alleviate the sometimes troublesome ailments with over-the-counter medicines or herbal preparations. Meanwhile, this way you can easily harm yourself, leading to the fact that initially mild indisposition turns into a serious he alth problem.

Symptoms of a diseased pancreasconcern not only the digestive system: sometimes they can also be seen on the skin, and even in the eyes.

How do you know ifpancreasis ill? Which symptoms should prompt you to see a doctor and consult a gastroenterologist as soon as possible?

How does the pancreas hurt? Abdominal pain

This is the most common signal of problems with the pancreas. Abdominal pain in the diseasedpancreasis usually located under the left hypochondrium ( although some people describe it as diffuse pain, with no specific location) and quite severe, even piercing. It usually occurs around 30 minutes after a meal, especially a heavy meal, and also after consuming alcohol.

Often radiates to the back. Severe pain on the left side of the abdomen that does not go away for a few days may be a sign of both developing acute pancreatitis as well as chronic pancreatitis, recurrent pancreatic pain may be a sign of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic back pain

More specifically - its lumbar (middle) segment. This location of pain is closely related to the location of the pancreas, which is located at the back of the abdominal cavity, at the level of the lumbar spine. The pain in the spine caused by the sickpancreasis characteristic: the person suffering from the pain feels as if his body is surrounded by a strong hoop. Like abdominal pain, it occurs approximately half an hour after a meal and after drinking alcohol.

Sick pancreas and excessive gas and fatty diarrhea

Smelly, greasy stools and fatty diarrhea are also one of the signs of the patient pancreas- appear when, due to the impairment of this organ, there is insufficient digestion of fats and they are excreted with the faeces. They are usually not a single symptom: they are usually accompanied by pain in the left abdomen (acute or paroxysmal), and often also with nausea and excessive gas.

Anatomy of the human pancreas

See gallery 4 photos

Sick pancreas and itchy skin

One of the symptoms of a diseased pancreas may also be itching of the skin, related to the fact that protein complexes with bilirubin accumulate under the skin, i.e. a pigment that is a product of hemoprotein breakdown (a high increase in its level is manifested by jaundice).

The itching can be of various severity: it can be troublesome, but usually it does not interfere with everyday functioning and does not make life difficult. This symptom should not be ignored: itching, which lasts for several weeks or more, may be one of the first symptoms of pancreatic cancer.

Sick pancreas and yellowish skin or whites of the eyes

The symptom of a sick pancreas is also jaundice - yellow discoloration of the skin, whites of the eyes and mucous membranes, caused by too high concentration of bilirubin in the blood serum. It occurs for a variety of reasons, including obstructed (by enlarged lymph nodes) outflow of bile from the liver to the intestines, or the bile duct being compressed by a tumor. This symptom occurs in 9 out of 10 pancreatic cancer patients.

Sick pancreas - symptoms on the skin

Blotchy rash on the body

A blotchy rash (purpura) is one of the symptoms that may indicate acute pancreatitis - but it is not a specific symptom, as it occurs in about 5% of patients. sick. The rash is bluish in color, and the spots are usually located around the navel (the stain surrounds the navel) and on the sides of the body - it is caused by the accumulation of hemorrhagic fluid from the peritoneum in the subcutaneous tissue.

Painful lumps under the skin

They are associated with the necrosis of the subcutaneous tissue accompanying pancreatitis, and may also herald pancreatic cancer. They most often appear in people between 30 and 40 years of age. The lumps or lumps range from 1 to 5 cm in diameter, are painful and appear most often on the arms, torso, thighs and lower legs, as well as on the buttocks.

In severe disease, they can rupture and release a sticky fluid. When they heal (which takes 2-3 weeks), they leave quite deep, discolored scars - but at the same time, new ones form in the area of ​​already healed lesions. Necrotizing lesions are often accompanied by fever, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

Wandering necrolytic erythema

Also known as erythema wandering dead. It testifies to glucagonomia - one of the pancreatic tumors and may appear up to two years before diagnosis. Initially, it is located on the limbs and resembles the erythema accompanying Lyme disease. In its central part is an itchy blister that ruptures and forms a necrotic focus with a dark, necrotic scab that leaves a discoloration after healing.

Then it can wander to other parts of the body - e.g. around the perineum, lower body or even the mouth. With the development of the disease, the number of blisters increases, so after some time the boundaries of skin lesions begin to blur and become irregular.

Sick pancreas and weight loss

A symptom of a diseased pancreas may be weight loss, which is difficult to explain by diet. Weight loss can be a symptom of both acute or chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer and always requires a diagnosis.

It can be associated with digestive and absorption disorders associated with damage to this organ, as well as with the inflammatory process within the pancreas, during which many inflammatory factors are activated, and the direct effect can be, among others, an increase in caloric demand that is not covered by the diet.

  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Pancreatitis

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