Surprising Pancreas Facts

What do you know about your pancreas? You're about to know a whole lot more!

These guys figured out how to grow mini pancreases.
It's located behind your stomach, but in front of your spine.
The pancreas shares a duct with the liver and gallbladder. It's called the Ampulla of Vater & is not anyone's father.
It also makes hormones that keep blood sugar levels from getting too high or low.
Pancreases make enzymes to help digest your food: amylases (breaks down carbohydrates), proteases (breaks down protein), and lipases(breaks down fat)!
A shortage of amylase or lipase can cause diarrhea, because colons hate undigested starch; if you don't have enough protease, this can cause allergic reactions because of partially digested chunks of protein.
Your pancreas is part of the endocrine system because it releases hormones into the blood (a closed, internal circuit); but it's also part of the exocrine system, because it releases enzymes into the digestive tract, which is considered an external tract, since it begins and ends with the outside world.