What is Pancreas ?

The pancreas lies in the abdominal cavity in a loop between the stomach and small intestine. The pancreas consists of two major types of cells: those producing digestive enzymes, and another type that produces insulin, the hormone that regulates blood glucose. Most of the body's digestive enzymes are produced by the pancreas. Insulin production is also covered in the section on the endocrine system.

The pancreatic duct empties into the small intestine very near to the stomach. In addition to digestive enzymes, the pancreas secretes a concentrated solution of sodium bicarbonate, which neutralizes the hydrochloric acid from the stomach and neutralizes the pH of the small intestine to the range of 7-8, a range in which digestive enzymes can be active. Pancreatic lipase breaks down fats into fatty acids and glycerol. Trypsin, chymotrypsin, and carboxypeptidase change proteins into peptides. Pancreatic amylase splits starches into disaccharides.