The mineral calcium, found in milk, broccoli and fortified foods, is the most abundant mineral in your body and plays an important role in the normal function of all cells, tissues and organs. Too much calcium can cause your pancreas to become inflamed, a potentially chronic and painful condition. Since the causes of this condition vary, it's not enough to reduce the calcium in your diet, as you may need prescription medications, dialysis or surgery.
The Pancreas
The pancreas is an organ in your abdomen behind the lower part of your stomach. It produces enzymes for digesting food that are passed through ducts that drain into the upper part of the stomach, or duodenum. The pancreas also produces hormones for regulating sugar metabolism. Diseases of the pancreas include pancreatitis, cancer and diabetes. Although there are many causes for pancreatic disease, one of the more common is the presence of too much calcium building up in your body.
Calcium Metabolism
The causes of high levels of calcium in your blood, called hypercalcemia, include overactivity in one or more of the parathyroid glands that regulate blood calcium levels, cancer, other medical disorders, medications and excessive use of calcium and vitamin D supplements. Over time, calcium deposits can clump together in the pancreas and form stones and scarring of pancreatic ducts and also block the flow of enzymes. This leads to an inflammation in your pancreas called pancreatitis, which can be acute or chronic. Chronic pancreatitis may also develop into pancreatic cancer.
Scientific Research
Researchers at the University of Zurich Hospital, Switzerland, published a study in 1995 in the "American Journal of Surgery" that showed hypercalcemia causes pancreatic injury by a combination of blocked secretions, accumulation of proteins and damaged pancreatic acinar cells. Professor Ole H. Petersen has led research at the University of Liverpool in the UK investigating calcium and alcoholism-induced pancreatitis. One of his studies, published in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" in 2009, identified channels that allow calcium to enter the fluid inside pancreatic cells. This process can be stopped by blocking the gene responsible for producing the channels.
Treatment and Prevention
If you have hypercalcemia, your doctor may give you intravenous fluids and other medications, or you may require a form of dialysis to remove excess waste and calcium from your blood. Calcium stones that are blocking pancreatic ducts may require surgery to remove them. If you are on medications like lithium and thiazide diuretics, you may need to discontinue them. You should also avoid taking excessive calcium or vitamin D supplements and stay hydrated, since low fluid levels can raise calcium concentrations.
References
- Patient UK; Chronic Pancreatitis; 2009
- MayoClinic.com; Hypercalcemia; May 2011
- American Journal of Surgery"; Hypercalcemia Causes Acute Pancreatitis by Pancreatic Secretory Block, Intracellular Zymogen Accumulation, and Acinar Cell Injury; T.W. Frick et al.; 1995
- "F1000 Medicine Reports"; Pathobiology of Acute Pancreatitis: Focus on Intracellular Calcium and Calmodulin; Ole H. Petersen, et al.; August 2011
- "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences"; Pancreatic Protease Activation by Alcohol Metabolite Depends on Ca2+ Release Via Acid Store Ip3 Receptors; Julia V. Gerasimenko, et al.; June 2009
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