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Human Body
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the second largest gland in the body (the largest is the liver), and functions both as a digestive organ (exocrine gland), and as an endocrine gland. In fact, it is two unre. lated organs into one.
The pancreas is an oblong, rather flattened, boneless, fatless and fleshy gland about 15 cms. long, grey-pink in colour, and weighs about 85 gms. It consists of a head, a body and a tail; its head rests in the curve of the duodenum and its tail touches the spleen. The pancreas is connected to the duodenum through the pancreatic duct which extends throughout its length.
Scattered throughout the pancreas, between the glands that pour juice into the pancreatic duct, are many pinhead-sized clusters of special cells. These are the islets of Langerhans. Exocrine Function
The exocrine portion of the pancreas produce 1000 to 1200 ml (2 pints) of alkaline fluid daily. This pancreatic juice contains several digestive enzymes.
Highly acidic gruel which leaves the stomach can spell disaster in the digestive tract by eating away the delicate lining of the small intestine (duodenum). To neutralize it, the pancreas (in association with the gall-bladder which sends the bile to duodenum) must produce enough alkaline juice. It waits on call, ready to supply a powerful arsenal of digestive enzymes as soon as they are needed. It does not begin to pour its products into the duodenum until food reaches there. Commencing its action through nervous control, the pancreas is proded into full action by the chemical message of the hormone secretion produced by the duodenum as a measure of self-protection. These hormones stimulate the pancreas to produce juice rich in sodium bicarbonate which 'neutralizes the acid of the chyme.
Pancreatic juice has five main enzymes. Three of these complete the digestion of proteins begun in the stomach. The others are (i) amylase (which digests carbohydrates), and (ii) lipase, the only fat-digesting enzyme in the body, which works on the tiny fat droplets prepared by the bile.
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