What is the connection between pancreatitis and amylase?
4 Finding elevated amylase levels may therefore help to narrow the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. However, other conditions may also cause to increase the levels of amylase, so this blood test is not resistant to failure. The link between pancreatitis and amylase in chronic pancreatitis varies from acute pancreatitis, because the loss of pancreatic function observed in chronic pancreatitis may lead to a decrease in blood amylase levels.
To fully grasp the connection between pancreatitis and amylase, it helps to understand what amylase is. In short, it is an enzyme or substance that helps to facilitate a chemical reaction that divides carbohydrates into them. Most of the body amylase is produced by a pancreas, an organ that is eliminated by the anesthesia of various substances that help the body in digestion of food. With pancreatitis, which is a condition in which the abdominal is damaged by inflammation, amylase stored in the pancreas is released into the blood.
normally the concentration of amylase in the blood ranges from 20 to 110 unityk per liter. Patients with pancreatitis usually have levels twice or three times the upper limit of normal. Increased levels of amylase are found in 70-95% of patients suffering from acute pancreatitis. As the pancreatic inflammation is solved, the level of amylase trends back to normal.
Although there is a connection between acute pancreatitis and an increase in amylase, other health conditions may also cause elevated blood amylase levels. Slive glands also produce amylase, so infection or inflammation of these glands can cause an increase in amylase. Women who suffered from cracked ectopic pregnancy can often have a significant increase in amylase levels. The use of some drugs such as Azathioprin and Hydrochlorothiazide may increase the concentration of amylase in the blood. Damage to the intestinal tract, either due to lack of blood flow or from an obstacle, can also increase the measured amount of this chemical.
in patients with chronic pancreatitis JE link between pancreatitis and amylase perverted. These patients often have reduced amylase levels in their blood. This happens because these patients have a loss of their pancreatic function because chronic inflammation destroys the cells of this organ. Because amylase is one of the chemicals produced by the pancreatic, patients with poor pancreatic function make reduced amounts of this substance.