Alcohol & Stress Questions

[Guest guest]

Probably a silly question but here goes :

As my previous pancreatitis was not caused by excessive alcohol, can someone

tell me exactly why alcohol is such a taboo for those dealing with Acute

Pancreatitis. I don't want moral lectures, as if anyone would!, but just the

plain facts of how drinking may affect the pancreas. The reason I ask is that I

MAY have 1 beer at New Year...

Secondly, I have seen in a few posts recently suggesting to try to avoid stress

amongst other things. Is stress directly related to the onset of Pancreatitis in

anyone's experience? Both my surgeon and GP say work stress (Bank Manager) is

unrelated to my prior condition, but as I will be returning to work in January

after 7 months off I wish to avoid any triggers in the future (yes, and that

includes alcohol!)

Colin

Scotland

[Guest guest]

Hi Colin!

Alcohol: my understanding is that the alcohol itself is a poison to

the cellular and molecular action of the pancreas. That is,

metabolizing the liquid results in certain byproducts that destroy

the cells which cause the leakage and activation of enzymes

inside of the pancreas instead of in the duodenum where it is

suppose to happen. This release and activation of enzymes

inside of the pancreas causes more damage to cells which

creates a viscious cycle. Now when a person has a perfectly

healthy pancreas, he or she is able to tolerate a certain amount

of cellular damage, and the metabolism is much more efficient.

However, when you have a less than perfect pancreas, you are

more likely to suffer less efficient metabolism and even if your

metabolism is good, you are less likely to tolerate the damaged

cells that a healthy pancreas could. Also, it is thought that

alcohol creates protein plugs in your ducts so that if you are

already narrowed from disease, you are more likely to suffer a

complete blockage of juice flow after drinking alcohol. Basically,

you most likely will tolerate a few drinks witout immediate affect

but, the long term, cumulative effect will probably mean a quicker

" death " to the pancreas. However, even though you may not have

an immediate reaction one time, there is always a chance that

the next time you will, that this will create an actual case of acuter

pancreatitis and that this acute pancreatitis will fulminate into the

systemic kind which is deadly. If a person knows that he / she

has a history or pancreatitis, it is best to avoid creating short

term and long term damage to the pancreas. But like all things in

life, it is a trade-off and you must prioritorize your decisions. One

beer at New Years most likely won't kill you, but it is a drink that

you must take being aware of the potential risks. One hypothesis

that I read posits that the alcohol relaxes the sphincter of Oddi

which allows bile and activated pancreas enzymes to backflow

into the pancreas ducts which then causes tissue damage and

the resulting inflamamtion, possible cyst formation and pain

issues.

Stress: My take on this is that stress doesn't cause the problem

but it certainly exacerbates it. Both physical and mental stress

can tax the system and when you have natural stress hormones

in your blood stream it activates the pancreas to release its

juices (after all you need energy to combate stress). So

whenever you feel hungry or want to eat, your pancreas puts out

juice which causes enzyme release which increases pain which

again creates a viscious cycle. Just like any other part of the

body that is less than perfect (except muscles I guess), you want

to try to reduce its functioning in order to preserve it - basically

you are babying it along to make it to the end.

Laurie