Amy Conklin, age 14, of San Diego, Calif., for her question:
HOW WERE THE ISLETS OF LANGERHANS NAMED?
All animals with backbones, including man, have a body organ called the pancreas. In man it is a yellowish pink gland about six to eight inches long, about an inch and a half wide and an inch thick. It is located crosswise behind the stomach with one end looped around the first part of the small intestine, which is called the duodenum.
Man's pancreas is a gland that produces digestive juices as well as the very important hormones insulin and glucagon.
Digestive juices from the pancreas empty into the first part of the small intestine. Both enzymes and salts are found in the juice which helps the digestion of protein, starches, sugars and fats.
Scattered throughout the pancreas are small islands of special tissue called the islets of Langerhans. Some medical men call them the islands of Langerhans. This special tissue secretes insulin directly into the bloodstream, and it is then carried to cells throughout the entire body.
The body's cells use insulin to help utilize glucose, the sugar that is their main fuel. If the pancreas secretes too little insulin, the cells cannot work properly because they can't use glucose normally. Unused glucose is then accumulated in the blood and body tissues. If this happens, glucose is carried out of the body in urine. Sugar in the urine is one of the main symptoms of diabetes melitus. When this disease hits, it must be treated with insulin prepared from the pancreases o€ animals.
The pancreas' islets of Langerhans also secrete glucagon into the body's blood. Glucagon acts on the liver and causes it to release stored glucose into the blood.
The islets of Langerhans were named after a famous German anatomist who was the first scientist to describe the special cells.
An inflammation of the pancreas, called pancreatitis, is a relatively uncommon disease, but it is found most often in persons with gallbladder problems. Many of the victims are chronic alcoholics.
Sometimes acute pancreatitis can constitute an emergency for which the patient may need to be treated for shock, fluid imbalance and other serious complications. The problem may become long lasting or recurring, especially if the patient does not stop using alcohol and start observing conservative dietary habits.