The pancreas is an oddly shaped organ that has been described as resembling everything from a pear to a tadpole. It’s buried deep inside the abdomen — behind the stomach and nestled among the liver, spleen, and gallbladder — so you may not have seen a picture of it or even be sure what it does. “The pancreas is a lot like a salivary gland in the sense that it makes fluid that it secretes into the gastrointestinal tract that helps break down the nutrients in the food that you’re eating,” says Debashish Bose, MD, PhD, medical director of the Center for Hepatobiliary Disease at Mercy in Baltimore. It also makes the hormone insulin, which helps control your blood sugar, he adds. The pancreas isn’t immune to problems, though. According to the National Pancreas Foundation, every year in the United States, more than 300,000 people are treated in the hospital for acute pancreatitis, a serious and painful inflammation of the pancreas that, left untreated, can worsen and even become life threatening. Pancreatitis can also lead to problems such as EPI, which occurs when your body doesn’t make enough digestive enzymes. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to reduce your risk for pancreatitis and related health problems. But first, it’s important to understand what pancreatitis is, what causes it, and how it’s linked to EPI. As a result of pancreatitis, you can also develop serious nutritional deficiencies and lose weight. Pancreatitis can be acute (occurs suddenly and gets better once it’s treated) or chronic (occurs repeatedly long term). In most cases, acute pancreatitis goes away in a few days with dietary changes, cessation of alcohol, or treatments, which may include fluids, antibiotics, pain medication, or a procedure where a doctor manually widens the opening of the pancreatic or bile duct. Inflammation of the pancreas that gets worse over time is considered chronic pancreatitis. Persistent or chronic pancreatitis can damage the pancreas and lead to other problems, such as EPI, which develops when the pancreas isn’t able to produce the enzymes needed to digest food.

Causes of Pancreatitis

The most common causes of pancreatitis are gallstones and alcohol, according to StatPearls. Gallstones, or pebbles made of hardened bile, can trigger acute pancreatitis if they leave the gallbladder and pass through or get lodged in the common bile duct, which is the tube that connects the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas to the small intestine. Alcohol consumption can also harm the pancreas, which is why doctors recommend people stop drinking to reduce their risk of pancreatitis. According to StatPearls, chronic consumption of alcohol is the second most common cause of acute pancreatitis after gallstones and the leading cause of chronic pancreatitis, accounting for as much as 40 to 70 percent of all cases. And a study published in October 2019 in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism noted that people who developed chronic pancreatitis as a result of alcohol consumption were diagnosed at an earlier age than those whose condition was linked to other causes. Other causes include:

High levels of fat in the bloodHigh levels of calcium in the bloodAbdominal injury that damages the pancreasHormonal abnormalitiesCertain medications, such as steroids, estrogen, some antivirals, and some diabetes drugsViral infectionGenetic abnormalities of the pancreasSurgery on the pancreasSmoking

Preventing Pancreatitis

There are ways you can protect your pancreas and reduce your risk for pancreatitis and other serious health problems, such as EPI.

  1. Limit alcohol consumption. By drinking less (or not at all), you can help protect your pancreas from the toxic effects of alcohol and reduce your risk for pancreatitis.
  2. Eat a heart-healthy diet. Gallstones, a leading cause of acute pancreatitis, can develop when too much cholesterol accumulates in your bile, a fluid that helps break down fats. To reduce your risk for gallstones, eat a heart-healthy diet that includes whole grains and a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. To help prevent pancreatitis, avoid fatty or fried foods and full-fat dairy products. If you have high levels of triglycerides — fat that is carried in your blood — you can also have an increased risk for acute pancreatitis.
  3. Exercise regularly and lose excess weight. People who are overweight are more likely to develop gallstones, which leads to a greater risk for acute pancreatitis. Losing extra pounds and maintaining a healthy weight by eating a balanced diet and engaging in regular physical activity can help prevent gallstones from forming.
  4. Skip crash diets. The caveat to losing weight is to do it gradually. When you go into crash-diet mode, prompting quick weight loss, your liver ramps up cholesterol production in response, which increases your risk for gallstones.
  5. Don’t smoke. A review of studies published in December 2019 in the journal Pancreatology found that adults who smoked were 1.5 times more likely to develop pancreatitis than nonsmokers. Pancreatitis can be a serious condition and, if left unmanaged, may progress to EPI. If you have risk factors for pancreatitis, make the appropriate lifestyle changes to prevent it. Additional reporting by Elizabeth Yun