Pancreatic insufficiency means your pancreas is not excreting an adequate amount of digestive enzymes. A shortage of these enzymes causes the food you eat to be incompletely digested. When food does not get broken down appropriately, then their health promoting nutrients cannot be absorbed.
Typically, pancreatic insufficiency occurs because some type of chronic or recurrent health condition is causing pancreas inflammation, which can progressively damage this vital organ. Possible causes of pancreatic insufficiency are:
- pancreatitis
- cystic fibrosis
- type 1 diabetes
- pancreatic cancer
- pancreatic surgery
- alcohol dependence
- autoimmune disorder ~ lupus
- Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome
- digestive problem ~ stomach ulcers, Crohn’s disease
Pancreatic insufficiency causes symptoms correlating to those seen with malabsorption, malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies, as well as some additional ones more unique to incomplete digestion, e.g. steatorrhea. A few more examples of pancreatic insufficiency symptoms include:
- bone pain
- weight loss
- early satiety
- easy bruising
- loss of appetite
- night blindness
- muscle cramps
- abdominal pain, tenderness
- inability to gain weight with effort
Pancreatic insufficiency treatment requires a simultaneous two pronged approach. One is to find and treat the condition causing damage to your pancreas, while the other is supplementation and adjustments for health maintenance and healing support.
Focusing on the later, you may need to take oral pancreatic enzyme replacement to assist with digestion. In addition, some need a H2 blocker or a proton pump inhibitor to along to keep stomach acid from rendering these enzymes inactive. Since fat absorption is often impaired, then supplementing fat soluble A, D, E, and K vitamins might be required to treat symptoms caused by those vitamin deficiencies.
Switching to a low fat, high protein and high calorie diet is an adjustment made to treat symptoms of steatorrhea and uncontrollable weight loss. And if the cause of your pancreas insufficiency is possibly related to excess alcohol use, then stop drinking the stuff.