Pancreas and its Functions (Nursing)

00:00 Look at this drawing.

00:02 Again, this is here to help you.

00:03 Look at how all these pieces fit together.

00:06 Now the pancreas is kind of that organ at the bottom.

00:08 You see where we have it labeled there? Yeah, it's not the most attractive organ, but it does seem super cool things.

00:16 The reason I wanted to pause here for a minute is I wanted you to understand the concept of all of these organs are connected by the common bile duct.

00:25 So, start at the top.

00:26 You've got the liver, right? And you see that green tube? They've kind of showing you that that's right in the meat of the liver.

00:33 When it comes down, the right and left hepatic ducts come down and meet in the common bile duct.

00:38 Now that first stop is the gallbladder.

00:40 The gallbladder is nothing more than a garage, right? It's just a holder for extra bile that the liver makes.

00:47 Follow the common bile duct down with your pen or with your finger and you'll see that it goes to the pancreas.

00:53 Now you see down the middle, you have a pancreatic duct right through the middle of the organ that hits and connects up with the common bile duct, and then that all empties into the duodenum.

01:05 Now, you'll care a lot more about this when we start talking about liver and GI problems, but for now, I want you to have solid in your mind, these organs are all connected by the common bile duct, and they end up in the duodenum, right after the stomach.

01:20 See, the pancreas, it's really not that attractive, is it? It's not that cute when it comes to an organ, but it's extremely functional.

01:29 Cool part about your pancreas is it might not be that great looking, but it's both an exocrine gland and an endocrine gland.

01:38 So I want you to write yourself a note as to why this works.

01:41 Endocrine glands can secrete things right into the bloodstream.

01:45 Well, from what we've already talked about, you know that the pancreas can secrete insulin right into the bloodstream, so that's its endocrine function.

01:53 The exocrine function is a secretion of the pancreatic juices into that common bile duct, right? Not into the bloodstream, but into the common bile duct.

02:04 So that's what makes this pancreas twice as cool.

02:07 It's an endocrine gland, insulin and glucagon right into the bloodstream.

02:12 And an exocrine gland, all those pancreatic juices that have the enzymes in them to help us digest food, and that's what it does.

02:20 The exocrine function, it breaks down food, it secretes these digestive enzymes, lipase and amylase, and it goes right into that duct to go right into the duodenum.

02:31 So, if we're worried about pancreatitis or problems with the pancreas, we always look at a lipase and an amylase lab value.

02:38 But that's the exocrine function of the pancreas.

02:42 For diabetics, we focus more on the endocrine function.

02:46 That's what controls blood glucose.

02:48 And the endocrine can put out both insulin, which will draw glucose into the cells for energy, and glucagon.

02:56 Glucagon is what tells the liver to put out stored energy.

03:00 So it secretes hormones.

03:02 That's the endocrine function of the pancreas right into the bloodstream.

03:07 What are the name of those 2 hormones? Glucagon and insulin.

03:12 Insulin will cause your blood sugar to raise or lower.

03:16 Right.

03:17 Insulin secretion will cause your blood sugar to lower.

03:21 Glucagon secretion, out of the pancreas, will cause your blood sugar to raise.

03:26 Okay.

03:27 So that's a pretty good introduction to the overall function of the pancreas.