Calcific pancreatitis causes the appearance of concrements( stones) in the ducts of the pancreas. Their value can be from one millimeter to several centimeters in cross section. The severity of the patient's condition is largely determined by the size of the stones and their location in the duct.
According to statistics, in the overwhelming majority of cases, this disease develops in alcoholics and often people who drink alcoholic beverages.
The remaining five percent of calcifying pancreatitis develops a hereditary predisposition or the presence of diseases such as tropical or idiopathic pancreatitis.
When diagnosing calcific pancreatitis in chronic form, it is very important to study the composition of the patient's blood, which reveals an increased content of proteins, lipids and calcium, which in turn is a cause of increased lithogenicity of pancreatic juice.
The main provoking factor for the development of this type of disease is the reception of alcoholic beverages, which irritate the walls of the stomach, and then the spasm of the pancreatic vessels. As a result, natural outflow of pancreatic juice becomes more difficult.
In the normal state of the pancreas, the juice produced by it contains a PSP crystallization inhibitor, a substance that prevents the formation of stones. In the body of healthy people, a stable balance is created between the content of calcium salts in the pancreatic juice and the inhibitor of crystallization of PSP.
This balance is a reliable protection against the development of such a formidable disease as calcific pancreatitis, including in its chronic form.
Increased production of digestive enzymes occurs with overeating and drinking alcohol. In combination with a decrease in the content of inhibitors in the pancreatic juice, conditions are created for the formation of stones and the development of the disease. This means that in the risk zone are all lovers of a good meal and drink fatty foods with alcohol.
It should be noted that with calcificating pancreatitis, including in its chronic course, there is a decrease in the production of citrate, a substance that can dissolve protein plugs. As a result, the protein content in the pancreatic juice increases and its viscosity increases, which is an ideal medium for the formation of calculi.