The levels of the protein CA 19-9 in the blood can be used to help diagnose pancreatic cancer, predict out come after surgery and determine an overall prognosis. That is kinda laughable, the prognosis part, because statistically pancreatic cancer is a death sentence. Anyway ...
This is gonna be a very short post cuz you can read all about here
Unfortunately those with long-standing chronic pancreatitis are at higher risk for pancreatic cancer than the general population. It is also to be pointed out that CA 19-9 blood levels can also be elevated because of pancreatitis so just because your levels are elevated it doesn't necessarily mean you have pancreatic cancer. Just thought I'd throw that in so ya'll don't run to the doc asking him/her to test your CA 19-9 levels however ...
If you have had long-term chronic pancreatitis it may not be a bad idea to chat with your doc about the possibility of cancer and the benefits of checking CA 19-9.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Diagnosed with Idiopathic Pancreatitis?
If your diagnosis is idiopathic pancreatitis you may want to do some research in order to discover why you may have pancreatitis. Sometimes the only thing that is idiopathic is the diagnosis.
When I was finally diagnosed (after 14 doctors) both my doctor and I thought it may have been caused by trauma from a football injury but 2 years ago I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Now that sheds a whole new light on a possible reason I had so many recurrent acute pancreatitis episodes because ...
Celiac Disease is strongly associated with pancreatitis and autoimmune pancreatitis. The thing about autoimmune pancreatitis is that it is often misdiagnosed as pancreatic cancer due to raised levels of the same antibody, IgG4. And it can also look very similar on CT scans.
What I am getting at in a round-about-way is that your diagnosis of idiopathic pancreatitis main in fact actually be autoimmune pancreatitis or at the very least pancreatitis associated with an autoimmune disease such as Celiac Disease, Sjogren's Syndrome, Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitus, Lupus, etc ... whether diagnosed or not.
So you may want to visit some of my Squidoo lenses:
Celiac Disease
Autoimmune Diseases Associated with Pancreatitis
And do some reading.
The lens that has info on autoimmune diseases that are associated with pancreatitis is NOT finished yet, in fact neither of the above are totally complete but the one on autoimmune disease and pancreatitis will be an ongoing effort because there are a lot of AID's to research!
Then you may wish to have your doctor test you for an appropriate autoimmune disease in order to discover the real reason you may have pancreatitis if you do not have a definitive diagnosis that points to alcohol or gallstones.
Just a thought.
When I was finally diagnosed (after 14 doctors) both my doctor and I thought it may have been caused by trauma from a football injury but 2 years ago I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Now that sheds a whole new light on a possible reason I had so many recurrent acute pancreatitis episodes because ...
Celiac Disease is strongly associated with pancreatitis and autoimmune pancreatitis. The thing about autoimmune pancreatitis is that it is often misdiagnosed as pancreatic cancer due to raised levels of the same antibody, IgG4. And it can also look very similar on CT scans.
What I am getting at in a round-about-way is that your diagnosis of idiopathic pancreatitis main in fact actually be autoimmune pancreatitis or at the very least pancreatitis associated with an autoimmune disease such as Celiac Disease, Sjogren's Syndrome, Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitus, Lupus, etc ... whether diagnosed or not.
So you may want to visit some of my Squidoo lenses:
Celiac Disease
Autoimmune Diseases Associated with Pancreatitis
And do some reading.
The lens that has info on autoimmune diseases that are associated with pancreatitis is NOT finished yet, in fact neither of the above are totally complete but the one on autoimmune disease and pancreatitis will be an ongoing effort because there are a lot of AID's to research!
Then you may wish to have your doctor test you for an appropriate autoimmune disease in order to discover the real reason you may have pancreatitis if you do not have a definitive diagnosis that points to alcohol or gallstones.
Just a thought.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Pancreas Regeneration Part 2
In a previous post called Pancreas Regeneration - Is It Possible? I alluded to the fact I thought pancreas regeneration is possible and why I was led to believe regeneration potentially viable depending of course upon you, the patient, doing what is necessary in order to provide a climate conducive to regeneration.
I am always looking for new scientific evidence to prove that my thoughts may be at least somewhat correct and one of my blog readers left a comment with a link to an article that I feel you must read. It is mainly about alcohol, it's role in alcoholic pancreatitis and the close relationship between the pancreas and the liver in regards to alcohol and it's role in creating an atmosphere conducive to pancreatic disease (pancreatitis) and liver disease. It is a fairly complicated, indepth article however; if you still drink alcohol this article may help you to understand why you need to quit drinking alcohol and of course more importantly why it is necessary in order to create an atmosphere conducive to pancreatic tissue regeneration after damage due to pancreatitis.
This is an exceptional article (in pdf format so you can save it to your computer) that may instill hope for those who wish to someday feel good again. Read it here.
I wish to thank my reader for sending me the link to this information because I had not found it myself and I learned something that I thought may be possible is in all actuality quite probable.
Enjoy the read it is great information about alcoholic pancreatitis with a secetion on pancreas regeneration but may seem like eating cardboard to some. LOL it is VERY scientifically intense.
Alcoholic pancreatitis: Lessons from the liver
I am always looking for new scientific evidence to prove that my thoughts may be at least somewhat correct and one of my blog readers left a comment with a link to an article that I feel you must read. It is mainly about alcohol, it's role in alcoholic pancreatitis and the close relationship between the pancreas and the liver in regards to alcohol and it's role in creating an atmosphere conducive to pancreatic disease (pancreatitis) and liver disease. It is a fairly complicated, indepth article however; if you still drink alcohol this article may help you to understand why you need to quit drinking alcohol and of course more importantly why it is necessary in order to create an atmosphere conducive to pancreatic tissue regeneration after damage due to pancreatitis.
This is an exceptional article (in pdf format so you can save it to your computer) that may instill hope for those who wish to someday feel good again. Read it here.
I wish to thank my reader for sending me the link to this information because I had not found it myself and I learned something that I thought may be possible is in all actuality quite probable.
Enjoy the read it is great information about alcoholic pancreatitis with a secetion on pancreas regeneration but may seem like eating cardboard to some. LOL it is VERY scientifically intense.
Alcoholic pancreatitis: Lessons from the liver
Thursday, February 9, 2012
What Is ERCP?
If you have had an acute pancreatitis episode your attending physician maybe suggesting or telling you to have an ERCP. What exactly is ERCP?
ERCP = Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography and it is used for diagnosing and supposedly relieving problems of the digestive tract.
This is a short post because information regarding what ERCP is, how it's used and what you can expect have already been covered here.
In 1979 I had an early form of ERCP but it wasn't called ERCP. My doctor simply called it endoscopy. I came through it without a hitch but depending upon the experience of your physcian who actually does the ERCP you may or may not wish you had never agreed to it because ...
6% - 10% of patients experience serious complications and one of those complications is acute pancreatitis. That is as high as 1 in 10 who undergo the proceedure realize it was a mistake. Of course that also means that 90 - 94% realize no problems due to ERCP.
Personally, knowing what I now know, I'd have to be at deaths door before I allowed the procedure but that's me. And then I'd want to know how many of the proceedures my physician doing the ERCP has actually done, how many he or she does each month and how many of his/her patients experienced complications. I'd want to know the physician knew what he or she was doing and had had plenty of sleep, didn't have a fight with his/her spouse or some other major distraction that may cause him or her to screw up during my proceedure. An average of 1 in 10 having serious complications from ERCP is a tad high as far as I'm concerned. But ...
DO NOT let my thinking influence your decision as to whether or not you have an ERCP. You are you and I am me, we need to do what we feel is best for us at the time. Just do your research and go in with your eyes wide open and realize that ERCP carries a fairly high risk of complications.
ERCP
ERP Imaging
ERCP = Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography and it is used for diagnosing and supposedly relieving problems of the digestive tract.
This is a short post because information regarding what ERCP is, how it's used and what you can expect have already been covered here.
In 1979 I had an early form of ERCP but it wasn't called ERCP. My doctor simply called it endoscopy. I came through it without a hitch but depending upon the experience of your physcian who actually does the ERCP you may or may not wish you had never agreed to it because ...
6% - 10% of patients experience serious complications and one of those complications is acute pancreatitis. That is as high as 1 in 10 who undergo the proceedure realize it was a mistake. Of course that also means that 90 - 94% realize no problems due to ERCP.
Personally, knowing what I now know, I'd have to be at deaths door before I allowed the procedure but that's me. And then I'd want to know how many of the proceedures my physician doing the ERCP has actually done, how many he or she does each month and how many of his/her patients experienced complications. I'd want to know the physician knew what he or she was doing and had had plenty of sleep, didn't have a fight with his/her spouse or some other major distraction that may cause him or her to screw up during my proceedure. An average of 1 in 10 having serious complications from ERCP is a tad high as far as I'm concerned. But ...
DO NOT let my thinking influence your decision as to whether or not you have an ERCP. You are you and I am me, we need to do what we feel is best for us at the time. Just do your research and go in with your eyes wide open and realize that ERCP carries a fairly high risk of complications.
ERCP
ERP Imaging
New Research Suggests That Pancreatitis ...
May be linked to the substantial release of intracellular calcium (Ca2+) from internal stores. That doesn't mean that calcium supplements are the enemy. It means that if you have some weird happenings within your cells (maybe due to an autoimmune disease) that the release of intracellular calcium may play a big role in acute pancreatitis.
You'll also see more evidence that caffeine is a protector which means that those who are concerned about drinking coffe or tea and having the caffeine cause problems will find that research does in fact suggest that tea and coffee should be beneficial, not an enemy. Read my earlier post Coffee and Pancreatitis.
But here, you can read this new pancreatitis research article from The Scientist and learn for yourself.
Whenever I find juicy tidbits such as this article I'll pass them along to you my readers cuz I appreciate your position, pain and trust.
Have a great pancreas pain free day!
You'll also see more evidence that caffeine is a protector which means that those who are concerned about drinking coffe or tea and having the caffeine cause problems will find that research does in fact suggest that tea and coffee should be beneficial, not an enemy. Read my earlier post Coffee and Pancreatitis.
But here, you can read this new pancreatitis research article from The Scientist and learn for yourself.
Whenever I find juicy tidbits such as this article I'll pass them along to you my readers cuz I appreciate your position, pain and trust.
Have a great pancreas pain free day!
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