Pancreatic Cancer and Diabetes
November is awareness month for both pancreatic cancer and diabetes. I doubt this is coincidental since both have to do with the pancreas. Our pancreas produces enzymes for digestion and is our source for insulin, which helps transport glucose from our blood into the cells of our body.
If we link diabetes and pancreatic cancer together and look at both as a result stemming from repeat injury to the pancreas, I believe it will give us better insight as to the root causes of either.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most fatal forms of cancer and diabetes is an issue that many of us are facing now or will in our future if we do not make changes. However if we make lifestyle changes that heal the pancreas, we may be able to not only sidestep the progression of either of these diagnoses, but we just might also be able to shrink either one into insignificance even after diagnosis.
Pancreatic cancer: if we look at the precursor of cancer, (chronic inflammation) and look for what is causing the inflammation (pancreatitis) in the pancreas, we should be able to trace the origin of the problem. When we lighten the load on the pancreas by eating less processed sugars, less meat and more whole unprocessed food, not only should pancreatic performance get better, but it should also help heal a hurting pancreas as well. According to the American Cancer Society pancreatic cancer is more common in people who have diabetes, so it seems pretty obvious that they may stem from some of the same sources of continued aggravation, which will initially yield the medical diagnosis of pancreatitis, which is simply inflammation of the pancreas. If this smoldering inflammation (chronic pancreatitis) continues, it can become cancer.
The most common causes of pancreatitis are gallstones and heavy alcohol use. It’s not hard to figure out how to cut out the aggravation from alcohol, (we can simply eliminate our intake). However gallstones (the most common cause) is the one that may be a little more complicated.
Gallstones: there is a theory that gallstones form because of bile containing too much cholesterol. Normally our bile contains enough chemicals to break down the cholesterol excreted by our liver, but if the liver excretes more cholesterol than our bile can dissolve, the excess cholesterol may form into crystals and eventually into stones. This makes sense because of the gallbladder holding this bile until we need it for fat digestion and if this bile has too much un-dissolved cholesterol in it, it makes sense as well that it could form little balls of hard cholesterol (gallstones) if stored too long.
Gallstone and pancreas connection: gallstones can block the shared bile duct which can block pancreatic enzymes from going into the small intestine and in turn forces them back up into the pancreas. The enzymes then begin to irritate the cells of the pancreas, causing the inflammation associated with pancreatitis. If we can get to the bottom of why these little boogers calcify and form maybe we can eliminate the primary aggravation that leads to pancreatitis and the possible root cause of pancreatic cancer and diabetes (or at least the form of diabetes where the pancreas is unable to produce an adequate amount of insulin). There is also a form of diabetes where your cells have so much insulin coming at them (from all the sugar intake) that they eventually become insulin resistant.
The best ways to sidestep all the complicated medical and nutritional jargon above can be summed up through 2 words, DIET & EXERCISE!
Next week’s article will be on healing the pancreas and naturally flushing the gallbladder. If we can lighten the load on our pancreas, it just might help us avoid pancreatic cancer and diabetes. We can have small amounts of cancer in an organ such as the pancreas and never know it, but it can certainly affect its performance!
